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THE 



STORY OF A TROOPER. 



WITH MUCH OF INTEREST CONCERNING THE 

CAMPAIGN ON THE PENINSULA, 

NOT BEFORE WRITTEN. 



By F: COLBURN ADAMS, 

Author of Chronicles of the Bastile; Our World; The Outcast; Adventures 
OF Major Roger Sherman Potter, &c., &c. 



In Pour Books.— Book First. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. : 

McGILL k WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 

1864. 



' ( ■■^ 



t- 



CHAPTER I. 



INXrvODUCTION. 

For more than forty years a timid old m,an, who 
never had an established principle of his own, had traf- 
ficked in political popularity and the opinions of others, 
until he found himself at the head of and guiding the 
destinies of a great people. The fears of this timid 
old man were always uppermost, and where a long road 
was open to wrong he was sure to take it, in preference 
to a short one leading to right. This timid old man 
now sat trembling at the head of the nation, and ready 
to yield it a prey to the revolution he had done so much 
to bring on. The North regretted him, and the South 
had used him. But when he had served her purpose, 
aided her in trampling upon the dearest riglits of human- 
ity, and insulting the manliness of the North, she cast him 
aside as a thing of no further use, to be looked back 
to and remembered by the people with a feeling of sor- 
row. This timid old man — now forgotten even in the 
contempt of his countrymen, and on wliose tombstone 
some future hand should write : '' Died for want of a 
principle" — had hopes and fears in abundance. He was 



4 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

uncertain in everytliing, certain in nothing. If he an- 
chored to one thing to-day, he was sure to shift his 
ground and place himself upon another to-morrow. 
Traitors used him as they would a mould ; he was 
always ready to be shaped to their wishes ; and now, 
when the follies of the South, which he had done so 
much to encourage during his political lifetime, had 
brought revolution and its attendant horrors on the 
country, he stood amazed and like a powerless child. 
War was a stern reality, but the shocks it was pro- 
ducing on the country failed to awake liim from his 
treacherous dream. He still hoped, still feared, still 
wanted to wait. 

And now this timid old man, dupe of demagogues 
and object of the patriot's pity, lias passed from power, 
almost from the thoughts of his countrymen, and left 
his country to struggle for existence in war and con- 
fusion. He has gone into uneuA^iable exile, and sorrow 
be to the historian who shall attempt to purify his 
name. 

A. ruder, but a man of higher purpose and better 
character, had risen up and taken the destinies of the 
people into his hands. He was to decide whether the 
Republic should live or die, whether we should have 
one nation or a divided people. But scarcely liad he 
taken his place at the head of the nation, when tlie 
clash of arms was heard in South Carolina, and Sumter 
fell. The nation's flag had been insulted by those wlio 
had needed its protection most, and the echo of the 
guns that worked Sumter's fall awoke the insulted 
people of the North from tiicir dull, deep dream of 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 5 

peace and prosperity. Still they were like cliildren 
^confused with a new toy. Untrained to the arts and 
hardships of war, tliey rushed to the field as if a sol- 
dier's life was to be a feast of pleasure. New York 
formed the focus of this great excitement. She was 
quick to send her legions and pour out her wealth in 
support of the Government. You heard drums beat- 
ing in every street; the great meeting had been held 
in Union Square, where patriots stirred the people, 
and even traitors promised never to be traitors again. 
It was early in April, 1861. The President had 
issued his proclamation calling for seventy-five thou- 
sand troops to put down the rebellion. New York 
was quick to get herself into uniform, regardless of the 
regulations; and the Union Defense Committee had 
gone into the business of taking care of the nation and 
endorsing the loyalty of travelers bound on a jour- 
ney to Washington. The military aspirations of men 
ran liigh indeed, and colonel's commissions were 
sought for by at least a regiment of worthies, few of 
whom knew anything of tlie profession of arms, or in 
truth any other honest profession. But they had a 
ready stock of honor, which tliey were willing to pledge 
at any time; could raise a regiment in a few weeks 
and bring their hosts into the field, to the terror of 
the enemy. Indeed, I am not so sure but tliat if tlic 
job of putting down the rebellion in a few weeks had 
been offered, there would have been any quantity of 
these gentlemen found ready to take it, confident of 
tlieir own ability to perform what they undertook. In 
fine, the soldier fever was on us all, but we were for 
going to the war in our own way. 



6 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

An eccentric gentleman, who had sold jewelry in 
Maiden Lane, thinking the Government might need an 
extra regiment or so of cavalry before the war was 
ended, had inserted in the Herald an advertisement, 
proposing a meeting at a hall on Broadway, for the 
purpose of considering measures to raise a regiment of 
volunteer cavalry. A Colonel was wanted, to whom 
would be presented a remarkable horse, of great value, 
and a near relation to Patchen. There was sometliing 
attractive about the advertisement, as there also was 
about the wild, dashing life of a trooper. None but 
skillful horsemen were to apply, horsemanship being 
considered necessary to a useful trooper. It must be 
remembered that I am writing of what occurred before 
the Government made that greatest of military dis- 
coveries, that it is not necessary a man first learn to 
ride before you entrust him with a horse and equip- 
ments, and send him, disabled with carbine, sabre and 
pistols, into the field to fight the enemy. There were 
those inclined to set this ambitious dealer in jewelry 
down as a very indiscreet gentleman, to hazard his for- 
tune on so dangerous an enterprise. 

When night came, I found myself standing at the en- 
trance of a long, narrow passage, dimly lighted, on tlie 
west side of Broadway, and leading to a hall used by 
a singing society. I was hesitating whetlier to enter, 
and began reading the big poster setting forth tlie ob- 
ject of the meeting. A thick-set gentleman passed in, 
then one of lean figure. I was about to go away, wlicn 
a very tall man, in a slouch hat, muffled in a big cloak, 
and booted and spurred, passed in with a firm, military 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 7 

step. He presented a true figure of the melancholy 
man in black, a name we afterwards gave him. His 
gait and manner so attracted my attention, that I fol- 
lowed him into the hall, which presented a somewhat 
quaint appearance, considering the military object of 
the meeting. The two rows of benches on the floor 
were occupied by about a dozen and a half demure 
looking gentlemen, while on the raised platform in 
front a dozen or so of very unmilitary looking men 
sat in a semi-circle. For a time no one seemed inclined 
to speak, and the meeting had an appearance of pass- 
ing off with remarkable quietness. At length the 
gentleman from Maiden Lane came forward and, with 
a defective intonation, stated the object of the meeting, 
and was elected president. A young, active and in- 
telligent man, of the name of Bailej^, and who has 
since distinguished himself in several encounters with 
the enemy, was cliosen secretary. We were told that 
Colonel Bayard Clarke, a gallant officer, and polished 
gentleman, had gone to Washington to offer his services 
to the Government to raise this regiment ; that much 
depended on the encouragement he received there. He 
would return in a few days, when his report would be 
laid before us. Colonel Clarke Iiad served in the reg- 
ular cavalry, in the same regiment with Harney, and 
had distinguished himself for gallantr}" during the last 
Florida war. He had also served his country in Con- 
gress, and was now prompted by the purest motives, 
in offering his services to the Government. It is fair 
to presume that such a man knew something of cavalry, 
and tliat his services would liave been exceedingly val- 
uable to tlie Government. 



8 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

Tliere was now brought forward and introduced to 
us a small, dark-visaged man, quick of speech, and 
ornamented with the title of Major. I rarely ever 
saw a more unmilitary looking gentleman. According 
to the many accounts he gave of himself he had served in 
several armies, was a particular friend and old acquaint- 
ance of General Scott, and had particularly distin- 
guished himself in Venezuela, in the wars of which he 
had brought off scars enough to satisfy us that he was 
a brave man. The Major had brought his sabre with 
him, and after discoursing in detail on the various uses 
of cavalry, setting forth in glowing terms how they 
could break a column and throw the enemy's line into 
confusion, how in charging upon and capturing a bat- 
tery tliey must first draw the enemy's fire, he went 
through a few exhibitions of his skill in the use of tlie 
sabre. Cavalry, with him, was the finest flower of our 
army, and he had given his life to the study of its uses. 
The Major was indeed clever with the sabre, and we 
began to think we had a jewel of a trooper, under 
whose leadership we were all to be made famous in the 
history of the war. But he damaged his feathers some- 
what by the wonderful accounts given of his own ex- 
ploits performed in battles some of us had never lieard 
of, and with which lie would have entertained us until 
midnight, each of his exploits far surpassing in bold- 
ness anything done by Murat, Nolan, Cardigan, or 
Hodgson, but for an ill-looking and irrepressible 
Scotchman who shuffled to the edge of the platform 
and interrupted the speaker by requesting " to know'' 
if h little time could not be granted him to relate his 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 9 

exploits in India, which he was quite sure would ex- 
ce'ed in terrible interest anything the gallant Major 
had done or indeed heard of in Venezuela. The Major 
yielded, and the chair gracefully granted his request. 

Our Scotch friend was evidently an honest, simple- 
minded man, who spoke in a broad provincial accent, 
which, with a total disregard of Mr. Murray, and his 
rules of speech, afforded us much amusement. His 
ligure, too, was not such as to produce grave misap- 
prehensions, for he was a thick, solid man, excessively 
short of leg, and with a flat, bald head, and an inexpres- 
sive face. Indeed, he must have cut a sorry figure when 
mounted, either as a heavy or light horseman. But, 
according to his own account, he had been a terror to 
the natives of Oude, as well as Affghanistan. I noticed 
also that the dark-visaged Major listened to his stories 
with a solemn countenance, as if his feathers liad fallen. 
Our Scotch friend was proud of the service he had 
seen, of his horsemanship, and of his skill with the 
sabre. He had served in her Majesty's heavy liorse, 
also in the Bengal cavalry. As to the war in Affghan- 
istan he had been all tlirougli it, and won laurels enough 
to make a hero of any man all the rest of his life. The 
Major might show his scars; they were the jewels every 
brave soldier wore ; but he would show him more 
scars on a single leg. What he had done in battle was 
not all. He had had combats with tigers while serv- 
ing under Hodgson, in Oude. On one occasion two 
of the desperate brutes attacked him, one at each leg, 
and would have unhorsed and devoured him but that 
his boots came off, and the hungry beasts ran into 
1- 



10 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

a jungle thinking tliey had got his legs. A brisk Irish 
gentleman of the name of O'Mara, interrupting, wanted 
to know if tigers were not remarkably fond of break- 
fasting on one of her Majesty's fat troopers? This was 
rather too much for the sturdy trooper, who paused, 
rested both hands on his big stick, and for a minute 
seemed counseling his wits for an answer. " It is 
neither here nor there, gentlemen," said he, regaining 
confidence. " What I have said is God's truth, and I 
have letters enough to prove what I have said, at home.'' 
Here he changed the character of his discourse, and 
began giving us a few lessons on the best mode of se- 
curing a good scat, how to keep the bridle hand during 
a charge, and how with a swift back stroke of the 
sabre we could displace the head of an enemy at one 
blow. He now commenced flourishing his big stick 
with wonderful agility, making sundry strokes, until at 
length he brouglit it in contact with the young secre- 
tary's nose, much to the amusement of the audience and 
alarm of tliose in his immediate vicinity. The young 
secretary was not inclined to lose his temper, and 
taking the ancient trooper by the arms kindly assisted 
him into his scat, begging him to subside. 

Mr. O'Mara, the bold Irish gentleman, now came 
forward as tlie next speaker. I must here say tliat 
this gentleman afterwards held a commission in the 
Tammany regiment, and behaved with great gallantry 
in the battle of Ball's Bluff. Mr. O'Mara had heard 
gentlemen who had served in the jungles of India, and 
gentlemen who liad seen wonders in South America 
talk before ; but he could tell (hem tlicre was no place 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 11 

like tlie plains of America for a trooper to show his 
,pluck. They might tell about breaking the enemy's 
columns, charging upon and capturing batteries, and all 
that sort of thing; but had either of them been out 
on the frontier fighting Indians ? Here he cast a look of 
admonition at the ancient trooper and the little Major. 
He had served in the mounted rifles, and had an hon- 
orable discharge. He had been a Ranger, too, in Texas^ 
and knew what it was to do good fighting on the 
plains. If any gentleman present thought he did not, all 
he had to do was to afford him an opportunity of satis- 
fying him. The audience here laughed heartily, and the 
speaker becoming conscious that he had thrown down 
a challenge made a pleasant apology. O'Mara, was a 
good soldier and sensible man. He gave us some good 
advice in regard to the dangerous services cavalry had 
to perform, what had been done on the plains, how also 
to take care of liorses, and indeed much more that was 
valuable relating to the internal economy of the ser- 
vice. " Gentlemen," said he, in conclusion, " I am an 
Irisliman; but I love my adopted country, have served 
her faithfully, and am ready to serve her again. If 
you want a trooper, O'Mara is your man." 

When the last speaker sat down, a tall, long-jointed 
and squint-eyed man, of the name of Carr, rose and 
made some very sensible remarks concerning cavalry 
and its use. It was no trifling matter to raise a regi- 
ment of cavalry, and the first question to be determined 
was, whether we could get skillful riders enougli in 
New York to do it. Tiiere were men enough wlio 
could do fancy riding in the Park, but the kind of 



12 THE STORY OF A TKOOPER. 

riding necessary for the field, was a very different thing. 
No doubt, a majority of men would prefer going to the 
war a-horseback. It was a pleasanter way than tramp- 
ing through the mud with a knapsack and musket on 
one's shoulders ; but he could tell us there was not one 
man in ten you could ever make a trooper of. You 
might mount men in the saddle and call thein cavalry, 
but unless they were expert riders, and trained to fight 
in the saddle, it was the readiest way in the world to 
get them killed off. And it was not pleasant to be 
killed for want of experience necessary to defend one's- 
self. Beside, unless cavalry were well drilled, it was a 
useless expense to the Government, and a costly incum- 
brance to the movements and efficiency of an army. 
He had lived in the South, and knew southern men to 
be very expert riders. Here he recounted what he had 
Avitnessed many of them perform in the tournament, 
and referred particularly to Ashby. He regarded it 
madness to go into the field until we were in a condi- 
tion to cope with these men. Let, however, the regi- 
ment be raised, and he would take hold and assist. 
But we ouglit to first know whether the Government 
wanted cavalry. 

The last speaker was succeeded by a gentleman in 
the body of the house. Mr. Briggs, for such was his 
name, took occasion to say that what the gentleman 
last up had said, was very discouraging to young men 
anxious and ready to enter the service. He knew from 
what he had read of the great hardships cavalry had 
to undergo, of tlie dangers of the service, as well as its 
attractions. But ho had great faitli in ihe adaptability 



THE STOKY OF A TROOPER. 13 

of the American character. Americans could learn to 
do anything and everything, perhaps not so thoroughly 
as some other people, but well enough for all necessary 
purposes, even war. If they undertook to make them- 
selves familiar with the business of cavalry, they would 
do it, and quicker than any otlier people. This was 
the first attempt to raise a regiment of volunteer cav- 
alry for the war, and he would liave every man present 
brace up his patriotism, and put his shoulder to the 
wheel. We must learn the art of war, just as we had 
learned the various professions men followed. There 
was in Westchester county a gentleman of the name of 
Yan Allen, who had made a move towards raising some 
cavalry. We had better open a communication with 
him, and see wliat our joint efforts would result in. 
He was for raising this regiment, and showing what 
could be done with volunteer cavalry. But he had un- 
derstood from good authority, that the Government at 
Washington regarded cavalry with indifference. 

Here tlie melancholy man in black, whom I had fol- 
lowed into the hall, rose, and laying aside his cloak, 
begged permission to say a few words. He did not 
come here to be the teacher of veterans, nor to take 
exception to what liad been said by troopers Avho 
had served in India and Venezuela. He had traveled 
in Labrador, in Newfoundland, and Canada, where 
he had resided for many years. He did not know any- 
thing about this Mr. Van Allen, and would like a gen- 
tleman present to tell him if he knew anytliing about 
cavalry. Because, if he did not, he was sure to want 
to be Colonel of tlu^ regiment. He tliouglit wo had 



14 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

better let Mr. Yan Allen raise his own regiment. He 
would, however, like to know if this Mr. Van Allen 
was a bold, dashing man. For, without a bold, dash- 
ing leader, cavalry must be a dead weight about the 
neck of the army. A gentleman on the platform inter- 
rupted the speaker, by saying that this Yan Allen had 
shown remarkable courage in an encounter (over a 
dinner table) with a famous Russian Count, and would, 
doubtless, when in battle, show himself a true man 
and a soldier. This did not seem to carry the popu- 
lar sentiment, which was evidently against having any- 
thing to do with Yan Allen and his troopers. 

The melancholy man in black continued. He would 
have the regiment mounted on Canadian horses. They 
were tougher, and better adapted to stand the severity 
and exposure of a Yirginia winter. He had seen some 
service himself, and had served in South America. In 
trutli, he belonged to a cavalry family, and had a sabre 
of great weight and age, which had come down to liim 
from his forefathers, and had aremai-kable history. If 
he only had it with him, he would sliow them wliat 
could be done at a single stroke with the sabre. (This 
queer sabre afterwards became celebrated in the regi- 
ment, and was captured and returned to him by one of 
Imboden's officers.) 

The night was now far advanced, and some eighteen 
or twenty persons having enrolled tlicir names, the 
meeting adjourned to meet at Palace Garden, on the 
following night, and liear a report from Washington. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE SECOND MEETING, AND THE QUESTION OF FUNDS. 

When we met at Palace Garden there was a large 
increase to our numbers, many of them young men of 
the right kind to give a successful turn to our enter- 
prise. We had got rid of her Majesty's talkative 
trooper and a few others, who were calculated to inter- 
rupt rather than advance any enterprise. At that time 
the press was a powerful aid to recruiting, and it had 
generously lent us its power in attracting attention to 
our undertaking. Among those who now joined us, 
and who afterwards figured honorably in the fortunes 
of the regiment, I will mention Joseph Stearns, Daniel 
Harkins, and a young man of erect figure, and remark- 
able for his beauty, of the name of Henry Hidden. 
Tlicre also joined us at this place a huge politician — 
a character so remarkable for his eccentricities, that I 
venture to assert this war has produced nothing to 
compare witli him. His stories of liimsclf were as en- 
tertaining, if not as rclial)le, as anything written of 
Don Quixote. No matter liow absurd a story you told, 
lie could beat you in one told with himself as the hero. 
His adventures in love, war and politics were numer- 



16 THE STOrtY OF A TEOOPER. 

ous as the stars. He had served in the Mexican war, 
but up to this day none of us have been able to dis- 
cover in what capacity. He disclaimed ever having been 
a surgeon, and hints were thrown out that he might 
have been a sutler. He knew (at least he said lie did) 
and was on intimate relations with all the great men of 
the country. In truth, General Scott always shook 
hands with him when he met him, and no man ever 
made him a bow who was not a particular friend. As 
I have said before, he was a man of ponderous figure, 
with a small, unintellectual head, crowned with a mat 
of bushy hair. He was excessively vain of his appear- 
ance, knew and attended to every one's business but 
his own, lived and flourished in an atmospliere of per- 
petual trouble, and could no more keep from making 
mischief than a duck could keep out of a neighboring 
pond. In a word, he was a sort of cross between 
Turvydrop and Paul Pry. 

We now numbered about sixty enrolled names and, 
forming into squads, commenced drilling, with O'Mara, 
the melancholy man, and a fine looking young cor- 
poral of the name of Myers, of the regulars, and 
who was kindly permitted to act in this capacity by 
Captain Eagle, then on recruiting service in New York. 
There was also a Lieutenant Charles Ogle, formerly of 
tiie regular cavalry, a man of rare genius, and an effi- 
cient officer, who, with one Sergeant Ditcher, who had 
followed Nolan in his desperate cliarge at Balaclava, 
rendered us good service as instructors in cavalry tac- 
tics. Ladies came to witness our drill, friends offered 
their assistance, and things went on with every appear- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 17 

ancc of a briglit prospect for several niglits. Then a 
dispute arose in regard to the kind of drill that slioiild 
he adopted. The smart young corporal, who had be- 
come a favorite with us all, and O'Mara, were for 
adopting the American system. The big politician, 
although innocent of any and all systems of cavalry 
tactics, wanted to instruct tlieni all. He could gallop 
a horse or swing a sabre with any of them, and thought 
that all these new-fangled notions about cavalry could 
but result in confusing the ideas of the men, as they 
had his. The 'melancholy man in black did not agree 
with any of them. He had brought his huge sabre 
with him, and would show them what he could do with 
it after drill. He would drill in his own way, and it 
was not his fault if they did not understand it. Lieu- 
tenant Ogle listened and looked on with silent con- 
tempt, while the dark-visaged little Major was willing 
to let them have it all their own way, and was so kindly 
disposed towards a neighboring bar, that he took occa- 
sion to pay his respects to it while others were disput- 
ing. The Balaclava man would obey orders, and 
drill according to the system we would be required to 
fight under. He was a poor man, did not look for a 
commission, and expected pay for what he did, for he 
had a family with open mouths, and but little to put in 
them. It was a soldier's duty to serve his country, and 
he could do that best by obeying orders. This was said 
in rebuke of the big politician, who had evidently 
given what little power of study he possessed to the 
regulations rather than to the tactics. He was one of 
those persons this war has produced too many of; who 



18 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

believe in first taking care of themselves, and doing as 
little as tliey can for tlie country afterward. He 
would make himself master of the regulations, for only 
by that could a man know exactly what he was to get 
for his services. Wliat was the use of a man exposing 
his life, unless he knew what he was to get for it. 
There was no romance in being killed for thirteen 
dollars a month, rations thrown in. In this manner 
the big politician would have entertained us every 
night until midnight, throwing himself back on his 
dignity, and frisking his fingers through his bushy hair. 
As for Ogle, he was a man of great good sense, and 
blessed with an even temper. When, therefore, he had 
shown his contempt for these disputes and the igno- 
rance betrayed in them, he would sit quietly down to 
his pipe, write sonnets to his lady friends, of whom he 
had a number, or make merry over the names of those 
who presumed to know so much more about cavalry 
than he did. 



CHAPTER III. 



BAD NEWS FROM WASHINGTON. 

Our iiiiniber liad increased to about one hundred, of 
as good material as was ever got together. We had 
held our regular drills nightly, in the great hall, the 
outside grounds being occupied by Blenker, then organ- 
izing his 8th New York Volunteers, made up chiefly of 
Germans, who were making themselves happy over 
great heaps of bread and Bologna sausage. 

Just as we had assembled for drill one night, it was 
announced that Colonel Clarke had returned from 
Wasliington, and would report what he had and had 
not done. The Colonel soon made his appearance in 
the body of tlie hall, and was received with three cheers. 
But it was not difficult to see by his manner, that what 
he had to say was not of an encouraging nature. 
Forming around him in a circle, he began by compli- 
menting us on the progress we had made, and then gave 
us a detailed account of his experience in Washington. 
He had been received cordially by the President, who 
admitted that there would be a necessity for cavalry 
during the war. But he expressed alarm, when told 
that as many as twelve or fourteen new regiments would 



20 THE STOPtY OF A TROOPER. 

be needed. They might be needed, but lie did not be- 
lieve the country would stand the expense. He was 
not skilled in the profession of arms, but he wanted to 
meet the expectations of the people, who would hold 
him responsible if he did not adopt the best and most 
efficient means of putting down the rebellion. But he 
had intrusted the "organization of the army to General 
Scott and his Secretary of War. Colonel Clarke then 
proceeded to the War Department and obtained, after 
some delay, an interview with Mr. Cameron, who was 
then, unfortunately for the country, the ruling spirit of 
that institution. Mr. Cameron was too much of a pol- 
itician to have any very deep sympathy or respect for 
a soldier educated to his profession. Indeed, so lively 
was his distrust of every officer who had been in the 
regular army, that he would, at times, treat with in- 
difference, and even discourtesy, men whose services 
the country needed most. He was inclined, also, to 
underrate the merits of his own countrymen, and to 
give precedence to foreigners, who have since shown 
how little they were worth in this war. Mr. Cameron, 
as well as his successor, was unfortunate in falling into 
the popular error of his party that fighting battles and 
gaining victories was the business of politicians and 
reformers, and that if you gave a soldier an odd job 
now and then when his sword got rusty, it was merely 
to have him show how far he was behind the spirit of 
the times. All history teaches that the badly educated 
politician lives in continual fear of the overshadowing 
figure of the soldier. The good soldier may be a very 
useful thing to have at hand when there is immediate 



THE STOKY OF A TROOPER, -21 

danger, wlien his firm nerve is necessar}^ to tlie politi- 
cian's safety. But once the danger is over, the politi- 
cian will mount his fcatliers and seek for a closet 
where he can keep the soldier until it suits his conven- 
ience to give him another job. The man wlio has sought 
and gained political power over a road both crooked 
and muddy, who never had a conscience to accnse him 
when selling the souls of some men and buying the 
votes of others, is not the man to appreciate the spirit 
of chivalry which rules in the heart and controls the 
acts of every true soldier. His thoughts are fettered, 
and his actions narrowed by tlie very means he was 
forced to use to gain his position, which he holds with- 
out finding any real favor in the hearts of the people, 
such being secured only where there is true worth. So 
it was with Mr. Secretary Cameron. But I have made 
a diversion from my subject. 

The reception Colonel Clarke met from Mr. Secre- 
tary Cameron was not what he had a right to expect. 
He refused authority to raise the regiment, was unde- 
cided as to the necessity that would arise for cavalry ; 
had his prejudices, and so had General Scott. General 
Scott, he said, liad no faith in volunteer cavalry ; it 
was a very expensive arm of the service ; it would open 
an immense field for fraud and corruption. Nor was 
he certain that in such a wild, rugged, and wooded 
country as we should have to advance through during 
the war, cavalry in large bodies could be used to ad- 
vantage. We could not always depend on the country 
we advanced into for forage, and the necessity of a 
supply large enougli for the animals would so increase 



22 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

tlie trains as not only to impede the movements of tlie 
army, but to quadruple the cost of transportation, and 
render it extremely dangerous to advance far beyond 
its depots. General Scott was of opinion, also, that 
this war would have to be fought chiefly by riflemen 
and artillery, and Mr. Cameron shared his opinion. 
He advised keeping up the organization, but could give 
no encouragement as to whether the regiment would 
be accepted or not. Colonel Clarke was sorry lie had 
nothing better to report. As the Government had no 
need of his services, there was nothing for him to do 
but retire into private life. He retired, wishing us 
every prosperity in our undertaking. This news fell 
heavy upon our feelings, and several were ready to 
give up the enterprise, and would have done so, but for 
the appeals of the more sanguine. We needed a 
leader to lean upon and respect, and Colonel Clarke 
was the man. There were young hearts, full of fire 
and spirit, such as Bailey and Hidden, engaged in our 
enterprise. But to make it successful we needed a di- 
recting head — a man of experience, indomitable energy, 
and a will to overcome such obstacles as the Govern- 
ment was sure to tlirow in our way. Colonel Clarke 
saw, also, that Mr. Cameron's thoughts and feelings 
were wedded to Pennsylvania. If the Government 
should need cavalry, he (Mr. Cameron) said, why go so 
far as New York for it, when there was Pennsylvania 
nearer. Mr. Cameron liad not then (and I doubt if 
his successor has now) discovered that there is some 
difference between the value to an army of a clever 
horse-thief and a skillful trooper. But if you compel 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 23 

a man to practice law, wlio has been keeping a grocery- 
sbop all his life, you must pay dearly for his blunders. 
No doubt Mr. Cameron was sincere when he fixed his 
mind on Pennsylvania as opening the best field for ex- 
pert troopers. Indeed, it must be borne in mind that 
the wants of the war had not then developed the fact 
that Mr. Cameron's favored State has sent more clever 
horse-thieves and less good troopers to the war than 
any other. 

Our drill masters put their squads through a series 
of evolutions, and when the evening's work was over, 
a few friends joined Colonel Clarke and retired to 
Bigsby's, where good cheer was to be had and the 
spirits of man so elevated as to forget his misfortunes. 
Among the number was the big politician, who spread 
over the Colonel and took him immediately under his 
protection. Before we had half finished our first 
punch, he began entertaining us with an account of 
himself. He was a man of fortune, he would have us 
all know, had filled various positions of high trust, could 
show how he had reflected honor on tliem all, and was 
making great sacrifices in joining the army once more. 
He was sure the Colonel, who he knew from the high 
reputation lie bore, as a statesman as well as a soldier, 
had been badly treated. He (the big politician) would 
see justice done him, if it cost half his fortune and 
any amount of time. He had influence enough at 
Washington, and, what was more, knew how to use it. 
There was not a Senator Avho would not be delighted 
to serve him, and his word was enough to secure his 
friends the position they wanted. The Colonel had but 



24 * THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

to say the word, and lie wovdd proceed to Washington 
(at his own expense, for he was indebted to no man for 
a dollar,) and see that liis new friend, whose acquaint- 
ance he had just had the honor to make, was not only- 
made a Colonel, but a General. He had the power 
and could do it. 

The Colonel listened quietly to what the speaker had 
to say, and, being- a sensible gentleman, set his promises 
down to the strength of the cups he had just drained. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE OPPOSITION TO CAVALRY AND GENERAL SCOTT. 

It may not be out of place here to say a few words on 
a subject which has been brought before the public in 
various ways, and is of vital importance to the army and 
the nation. The charge of opposition to the use of cav- 
alry when the war began, has been several times brought 
against General Scott. And the continued demand for 
more mounted troops that has been made by the press, 
in many cases prompted by interested persons, has been 
used to show that his opinions respecting the usefulness 
of a large cavalry force, were wrong. I have good rea- 
sons for saying that General Scott's opinions on this sub- 
ject, when the war began, and at the present time, are very 
imperfectly understood outside of the War Department. 
I have reason to believe, also, that General Scott's name 
was improperly used, in connection with this subject, 
by the then Secretary of War, to cover his own short- 
sightedness. The politician's military horizon was at 
that time very contracted and indistinct. General Scott 
rose above it, and saw over it. If his advice had been 
properly acted on, and his plans not interfered with 
2 



26 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

and opposed by presumptuous men, the country would 
have been saved not only much blood and treasure, but 
many a disgraceful defeat at the hands of an inferior 
enemy. On the question of cavalry, General Scott 
was too good a soldier and too far-sighted a man, not 
to foresee that in advancin,G: through a country possess- 
ing the peculiar features of Virginia and Tennessee, 
cavalry, or in other words, mounted troops, would be 
needed in various ways. To make quick movements, 
to take and hold the gaps of mountains before the 
enemy could reach them, was the business of cavalry. 
To act as videttes, to scout, to reconnoitre, to feel the 
enemy's positions, to make diversions and raids, to 
operate on flanks and harass the enemy's rear when in 
retreat, were duties expected of cavalry. To do escort 
duty, and protect supply and other trains tlirough a 
country wliere the rear of an advancing army was con- 
tinually exposed to the operations of guerrillas and 
small bands of the enemy, cavalry was indispensable 
But General Scott kncAV that to perform these services 
well and effectively, the cavalry would require to be 
well organized, well officered, and thoroughly drilled. 
He knew that without these, cavalry, or what is called 
cavalry, must sooner or later become nothing more than 
a terrible drain on the nation's resources, and a per- 
plexing incumbrance to its armies. The duties per- 
formed by cavalry were more hazardous and laborious 
than tliose expected of infantry or artillery. It sliould 
be, and was, in European countries, regarded as a supe- 
rior arm of the service, better paid and better equipped. 
Its officers and men should possess a higher standard 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 27 

of nerve and intelligence tlian either the infantry or 
artillery, to make it worthy of its name. And, too, a 
trooper without natural love for his horse, and a proper 
desire to see that he was well cared for, would be little 
more than an animal killer — a sorry expense to any 
government. 

General Scott knew also what was the character of 
our people for rushing from one extreme to another, 
and that the influence of this great error in our national 
character, was soon to make itself felt dangerously on 
the Government. No man knew better than he did 
the true value to the nation of a well organized force 
of any kind. What he feared was the confusion and 
corruption which must result from every politician of 
influence having a military plan of his own, and impa- 
tient to force that plan on the Government. Nor did 
he fail to foresee that a Secretary of War, whose busi- 
ness it had been to practice law in a country village, 
who was indeed innocent of any military experience, 
must fall into the errors of such military men as he 
was likely to call in as private instructors, and that 
the result of this would be a conflict of authority dis- 
astrous to the nation's best interests. 

If, then, General Scott had prejudices on the subject 
of cavalry when the war began, they were directed 
against the abuses to which it would be liable, not the 
uses to which it might be put. And if the experience of 
two years has tauglit us anything in the art of war, it 
has also tauQ:ht us tliat General Scott was as correct 
in bis opinions respecting cavalry, as he was in the 
number of men it would require to carry on the war 



28 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

successfully, and make it of short duration. In no 
other branch of the service has there been so much 
fraud, so much corruption, so much utter worthlcssness. 
Colonels' commissions were given, and men authorized 
to raise regiments of cavalry who had never mounted 
a horse ; who were physically, as well as mentally, 
unfit to be soldiers. The conduct of a colonel stamps 
itself on the character of a regiment, especially the offi- 
cers. And you cannot have good men, unless a colonel 
shows by his own character that he is fit to prop- 
erly shape their conduct while in an enemy's country. 
The Government made cavalry colonels of some men 
who were as unfit to be at the head of a regiment as 
a gambler would be to preside over a prayer meeting. 
Such a position should be, and used to be, the reward 
of merit, for it is one of great importance in our army. 
The events of the war have shown that too many of 
these positions were bestowed on political favorites. 

Without experience, no heart in the war, or a thought 
above what could be made out of the positions thus 
improperly bestowed upon them, it is safe to say that 
these men have not only been a great drawback, but 
brought disgrace upon the service. Officers of the 
regular cavalry were educated and honorable gentle- 
men ; but the spirit that ruled among them does not 
seem to have descended to the volunteer. The Gov- 
ernment is to blame for this, since the remedy is in its 
own hands, but it fails to apply it. Once armed with 
authority to raise a regiment, these men go to work 
picking up whatever sort of material they can find, 
regardless of its fitness or anything else but numbers. 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 29 

Numbers are what tliey want, and when tliey get tlieir 
TCgimcnt full, probably not more than one hundred and 
fifty or two Imndred of its men are fit for or will ever 
make respectable troopers. This is particularly the case 
with some of the last regiments raised in Pennsylvania 
and New York. No one can have been with our cavalry 
long, and observed carefully the material of which these 
regiments are made up, without being struck with their 
great inferiority, mentally and physically, when com- 
pared with either the infantry or artillery. Strange, 
and almost unaccountable as it may seem, I have no- 
ticed that an incompetent colonel was sure to want his 
regiment officered by men who knew no more than he 
did. This invariably resulted in exhausting quarrels 
between him and his officers, and such quarrels have a 
very damaging efiect on the discipline of the men. I 
have known regiments of cavalry to lay for a year use- 
less in the outskirts of Washington, the officers spending 
most of their time in the city or, for want of something 
better to do, quarrelling among themselves, the men 
demoralized with dissipation, and finally the regiment, 
which had cost the Government so much to organize 
and support, dwindle away, until the amount paid to 
officers became greater than that paid to the men. It 
used to be the fashion for officers who wanted to get 
rid of an incompetent and useless colonel or major, 
to join in signing a petition asking the President to 
make him a brigadier general. But even tliat clever 
expedient seems to have lost its virtue, since Mr. Lin- 
coln has not been taken in by it for some time past. I 
have known not less than a dozen colonels of cavalry, 



30 THE STORY OF A TROOPER, 

loitering about the streets and hotels of Washington 
for weeks and months, not one of whom gave the slight- 
est thought to his men ; and all drawing paj for ser- 
vices they were incompetent to perform. It is not 
difficult to understand what sort of discipline must rule 
in a regiment commanded by one of these men, and 
how little use it must be to the service. 

It is not at all times pleasant to tell the truth ; but 
the sooner it is told of this arm of the service, the 
better for the nation. We have now upwards of two 
hundred and twenty regiments of cavalry in the ser- 
vice of the United States. These are exclusive of a 
few independent companies. Many of these regiments 
are very much reduced in men ; some of them not mus- 
tering for duty more than enough to make three full 
companies. And yet many of these mere skeleton regi- 
ments are still attended with a full complement of 
officers, all drawing full pay, while other expenses are 
going on in little less ratio than when the regiment 
was full. Some of these regiments have been left to the 
command of captains, while their incompetent colonels 
and majors were content to play ornament on the 
staff of some friendly General. Now, when it is con- 
sidered that to organize, mount, equip, and put a cavalry 
regiment into the field, it costs the nation between five 
and six hundred tliousand dollars, and between two 
hundred and fifty and three hundred thousand for every 
succeeding year it is kept in the service, the enormous 
cost of this branch of the service can be estimated at 
a glance. Nor can the necessity of keeping so costly 
an arm of the service properly officered and actively 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 31 

employed, be urged too strongly on the Government. 
Tlie politician tells us every day that it is not wise to 
study economy while the very existence of the nation 
is threatened. But a nation with so strong a founda- 
tion as ours has got in the patriotism of the people, 
will find better protection and a safer refuge for its 
honor in the hands of those who study economy and 
know how to properly apply it for the benefit of all, and 
at all times. Economy has no virtues during peace that 
cannot be applied in war. And every good man whose 
voice and acts form the administrative power of a na- 
tion should exert himself in its influence. 

It might be asked what really the cavalry had done 
for which it could claim credit corresponding to its 
numbers and cost to the nation. G-rierson, Straight, 
Pleasanton, and a few others, have given some proof of 
what might be done with a properly organized and 
officered force of cavalry. But tlie west has been 
more fortunate than the east, as well in the service per- 
formed by its cavalry, as tlie skill and dash of the offi- 
cers who commanded it. There is, indeed, as much 
difference between the cavalry in these two sections of 
the country, as there is between tlie 8th Illinois and 
the 8 th Pennsylvania regiments, a comparison every 
officer that knows anything of the cavalry attached to 
the army of the Potomac will understand. In order to 
be concise, I will limit what I have to say on this sub- 
ject to what our cavalry has done in Virginia. 

On several occasions I could name, the country has 
been sent into a fit of joy by the newspapers giving 
glowing accounts of some remarkable raid our cavalry 



32 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

had made into tlie enemy's country. Even the picture 
papers, not to be wanting in enterprise, have aston- 
ished the younger members of our family with savage 
looking troopers, mounted on fierce war studs, dashing 
at terrible speed at the head of malicious columns into 
the enemy's country. But when we sift these glowing 
accounts down, and get at the real truth, we find it 
an affair so tame as to reflect but little credit on us. 
McClellan had but little confidence in our volunteer 
cavalry, and rarely used it. In the winter of 1861-62, 
he was afraid to send it out, knowing that if he did, it 
would be " gobbled up^' by the enemy. On several oc- 
casions on the Peninsula, it was the means of throwing 
the infantry into confusion, and doing serious harm. 

The officer whose name has been most prominently 
before the public in connection with cavalry movements 
in Virginia, is General Stoneman. But the most ardent 
admirers of that gallant officer find their energies 
taxed when invited to show the fruit of his labor. Few 
will contend that he improved its organization during 
the winter of 1861-2. He commanded a "flying col- 
umn" up the Peninsula during the campaign under 
McClellan. Will any one tell me what he did from 
the day he left Williamsburg until he reached Mechan- 
icsville on the Chick ah ominy, beyond keeping a re- 
spectful distance between his own front and theenemy^s 
rear ? He certainly did not hurry the movements of 
Johnson, who retreated up without leaving a sick sol- 
dier or a broken wagon behind. When Jeb Stuart 
made his celebrated raid round our army at Cold Har- 
bor, and destroved our trains at Tunstill's Station, Gen- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 33 

eral Stonemanwas quietly resting- near Meadow Bridge. 
Itjs true we sent Phillip St. George Cook in pursuit of 
his bold son-in-law. But that distinguished officer was 
careful to sail on the same circle, and in that way gave 
his son-in-law the advantage of a respectable start. In 
truth, it would not do to attempt to cut off so bold a 
trooper as Stuart, and Phillip St. George had a very 
natural and, perhaps, commendable aversion to being- 
captured by his own son-in-law, and he a rebel. What 
the cavalry did during the seven days' battles before 
Eichmond, is too well known to the country to need a 
word from me. In many instances it was in inextri- 
cable confusion, and retarded, rather than assisted our 
movements. Colonel Averill succeeded General Stone- 
man, and received the appointment of Brigadier Gen- 
eral. As colonel of the 3d Pennsylvania volunteers, 
this officer won great credit for the spirit and discipline 
he infused into that regiment. But at the head of the 
cavalry force he seems to have lost his capacity to 
successfully command. His subordinate commanders 
never had confidence in his ability to handle a large 
force, and the fights he was engaged in never resulted 
in anything substantial. 

When the truth comes to be told, and the true his- 
tory written of these cavalry fights along the fords of 
the Rappahannock and Rapidan, and of which so much 
has been claimed by the press, the real results will show 
but little to our credit. The luckless Pope, in his 
memorable advance backwards on Washington, his le- 
gions as disordered as his own mind was bewildered, 
took the opportunity to tell some severe truths of his 
2* 



34 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

cavalry. Some of it ran his infantry down in its liaste 
to be first into Alexandria. Had that unfortunate 
General confined his strictures to his worthless troopers, 
the country would to-day have shared its sympathy 
with him, and lie would, indeed, stand better before it. 
It is now December, 1863, and the question may be 
asked — what is the condition of our cavalry in Virginia 
to-day ? What benefit are we deriving from it in com- 
parison to the enormous drain it is making upon the 
Treasury ? General Stoneman, with the rank, pay, 
and emoluments of a Major General, has retired from 
active duty in the field, and presides over a cumbrous 
and costly " Cavalry Bureau " at Washington, estab- 
lished without authority of law, a thing unknown 
among the acts of Congress, an expensive fancy of that 
child of magnificent fancies — the present Secretary of 
War. The duties of this bureau are such as might be 
performed by any capable captain or lieutenant. Gen- 
eral Stoneman being a Major General, must have things 
conforming to his dignity, and hence must have a staff, 
though the nation suffer. There is attached to this 
" Cavalry Bureau," an expensive camp, for receiving 
and remounting dismounted troopers. It is noticed 
that since the organization of this camp, the number of 
dismounted cavalry men has alarmingly increased. The 
utility of this camp, as well as the influence it has on 
the service, has been questioned by some of our most 
experienced cavalry officers. Many of tliem regard it 
as nothing less than a premium held out to worthless 
troopers to break down their horses and get away from 
service and into Washington. It is very well known, 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 35 

too, that regiments and parts of regiments sent into 
this camp to be remounted and re-equipped have, after 
long delay, returned to the field scarcely improved in 
their condition. Whether this expensive bureau and 
extensive camp will work any improvement in the effi- 
ciency of our cavalry, remains to be seen. 

General Pleasanton, who really did some good fight- 
ing with his cavalry, and has some claim on the gratitude 
of the people, has to-day nothing more than a nominal 
command in the field. He is powerless even to organ- 
ize and give proper rank to his own staff. He knows 
what cavalry ought to be, and feels that he could im- 
prove its condition, if the Government would but give 
him the power to act. But when politicians control, 
lie finds it impossible to be anything more than their 
instrument. Disgusted at the position he holds and 
does not hold ; disheartened at the condition of tlie 
force nominally under his command, we have almost 
ceased to hear of his name. Gregg, Buford, Custer, 
and Kilpatrick, officers who have shown what they 
could do with cavalry if they had the power to perform, 
are so chained down by orders, that their dash and 
bravery is lost to the nation. We have now some 
thirty-five regiments and parts of regiments attached 
to the army of the Potomac. The country may natu- 
rally ask how it is that with so large and expensive a 
force, Moseby, with a mere troop cuts in and out 
through our lines, wlienever and wherever lie pleases, 
destroys trains and Government property in our rear, 
and carries off his plunder and prisoners unmolested? 
What are our thirtv-five regiments of cavalry doing 



36 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

while Moseby and his troop play such pranks in our 
rear? Our Generals know the map of his operations. 
That they do not entrap him argues something wrong, 
and the common sense of the country knows where to 
fix it. 

If we turn to the valley of the Shenandoali, so fruit- 
ful of disgraces to our arms from the beginning of tlie 
war up to the present time, and all for want of proper 
generalship, the condition of our cavalry will be found 
most deplorable. In an angle formed by Harper's 
Ferry, Martinsburg, and Winchester, there are some 
nine regiments of cavalry, or rather what are called 
cavalry, most of them wasting away in useless inactiv- 
ity. The cowardly part performed by some of these 
regiments (especially those from Pennsylvania,) in run- 
ning away from the enemy, is too well known to the 
country. The officers seem to have no confidence in 
their men ; the men no confidence in their officers. It 
has been a question with many whicli was the worst 
cowards. To send them out on an expedition was to 
see tliem scamper back at the very shadow of Imboden, 
in disgraceful disorder. Their condition has been 
little better than that of a confused mob, made more 
useless by being mounted. Nor has the discipline and 
efficiency of some of these regiments improved in the 
slightest, though they have been nearly two years in 
the service. This would not be so if the Government 
did its duty and saw that these worthless officers were 
removed, and proper ones put in their places. Now it 
is well known that these nine regiments of cavalry, 
with their immense expensc^to the country, are kept at 



THE STORY OE A TROOPEIl. 37 

l)ay by tho mere shadow of Iinboden and liis men. Any 
oiio wlio knows anything of Imboden and his followers 
can attest to their being made up of the most cowardly 
and cliaracterless vagabonds the confederates have sent 
out to disgrace a country and damage a cause. They 
liave always been ready to run at any show of courage, 
and have uever dared to meet the first New York cav- 
alry in a fair fight. In truth, too, it is not adding much 
to our credit to say that Imboden and his men might 
have been captured or driven beyond hearing long 
since, but for the unwillingness of our Generals to 
give the order. At one time Imboden and his com- 
mand, with its train, was within the very grasp of the 
first New York cavalry, the men of which were impa- 
tient to make the charge and capture it, as seen quietly 
moving away before their eyes. But the General in 
command, an eye-witness to the prize it required only 
an effort to secure, tliought the risk too great to assume 
the responsibility without orders from Washington. 
He withdrew his forces and left Imboden to seek a 
peaceful asylum in the mountains. I have more than 
once suspected our generals commanding in the valley 
of having a peculiar love for Imboden and his followers, 
whose shadows served them to prolong the pleasures 
and pay incident to high command. 

To say our cavalry was never in a worse condition, 
more disorganized and helpless than it is now, is only 
saying what is known in the army to be the truth. Is 
it not then the very extreme of folly to put the country 
to the expense of raising new regiments that can be of 
no earthly use to the service for at least a year, when 



38 THE STORY OP A TROOPER. 

we have so many in the field that should be at once 
dismounted and made to perform duty as infantry ? 
What we need is a reorganization and consolidation of 
the regiments already in the field. Permanent com- 
mand should be given to some officer of known ability, 
with power to purge the service of its worthless officers 
and men, as well as to hold every colonel to a strict re- 
sponsibility for the discipline and efficiency of his regi- 
ment. Military men well know that one regiment of 
good cavalry, well officered and well handled, will do 
more actual service than ten poor ones. And this is 
what Congress should understand, and act upon, for the 
bene at of the country as well as the honor of the ser- 
vice. 



c n A r T E II Y. 



DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME. 

Earl}^ May had passed, the nation's hopes and fears 
had been relieved somewhat by the prompt action of 
the people, and the middle of the month was come. 
And yet we had received no encouragement from Wash- 
ington. The Government was still undecided as to 
whether cavalry would be needed in this war, and Mr. 
Cameron, without any convictions of liis own on the 
subject, had enough to do assigning sutlerships and giv- 
ing places of high trust to his small political fi'iends. 
We had worked manfully to keep the organization to- 
gether, but this repeated indifference to our claims at 
Washington brouglit a feeling of discouragement on us 
all. We were without a recognized head ; and liow to 
raise funds to relieve our fast increasing necessities was 
a question that began to tax all the ingenuity we pos- 
sessed. Begging was in fasliion just then, and men 
(Germans especially) in all sorts of uniforms, were go- 
ing from door to door soliciting of generous citizens 
money to aid in raising some real or imaginary i-cgi- 
ment. This business was carried to such an extreme 



40 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

that it assumed a degrading cliaracter, and those en- 
gaged in it were not the men to make good soldiers. 
Large smns of money were collected in this manner. 
And it is safe to say that a large portion of it went into 
the pockets of worthless officers, and was never ac- 
counted for to the men for whom the donors intended it. 
We were not inclined to adopt this rule, so generally 
in practice, of raising the ways and means ; first, be- 
cause, with the single exception of the big politician, 
we were none of us skilled in the art of begging ; and 
second, to be dependent on charity for the means of 
raising a regiment the Government must ultimately need, 
seemed mean and despicable. The Union Defense Com- 
mittee was just then in the height of its power, and 
had taken a new saint into its circle. This new saint 
was no less a person than Fernando Wood, who had 
promised to be as gooda Christian as any of them, and 
never again to play the political or any other kind of 
a sinner. He was now distributing the gentle influ- 
ences of his love and patriotism over the whole com- 
mittee, upon whose generosity he had made so deep an 
impression as to secure a vote granting him sixty-seven 
thousand dollars, or thereabouts, " to assist " in raising 
the Mozart regiment. Tammany had raised a regi- 
ment ; why should not Mozart display its patriotism 
in a similar manner ? And then the famous Union 
Saving Committee, which really did much good, and, 
with a little practical knowledge of military matters, 
might have done much more, had a strange partiality 
for giving money with a lavish hand to regiments 
raised through political influences. It had no money 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 41 

to give US just tlicn. Wo were not up to the political 
standard received by the committee. Mr. Wood had 
promised henceforth to walk according to the new creed 
provided for all good men and patriots. It would 
indeed be withholding justice from this highly honora- 
ble gentleman and straightforward politician, not to 
say that he conducted himself as a truly good Christian 
should, during his probation at the board. If he did 
not return to his seat after he had secured the object of 
his heart's desire, it was not because he had failed to 
impress the more pious members of the committee with 
the great depth and value of his patriotism. 

It has been charged, and very unjustly I think, that 
Mr. Wood had seliish motives in thus setting up for a 
political saint ; that his regiment was raised, not so 
much to put down the rebellion, as to keep life in a 
political enterprise he had invested capital in and was 
afraid would be swept into the dead sea of the past. 
But it must be remembered that all great and good 
men have, in all ages, been charged with selfishness, 
and I see no good reason why Mr. Wood should not be 
added to the long list of worthy persons who have been 
martyrs to their honest intentions, rather than heroes 
to their ambition. I knew something of this Mozart 
regiment when it was on the Peninsula, where it did 
some good service. Strange to say, the officers all 
seemed to repudiate their great benefactor, against 
whom several of them pronounced maledictions I would 
protest against tlieir writing on my tombstone. This 
I charged to tlie ingratitude common among mankind, 
and not to any want of integrity shown by Mr. Wood 



42 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

wlien he squared his account current with the regiment. 
But as Mr. Wood will not thank me for writing either 
his political or military history, and fearing my labor 
of love may be lost on the reader, I will return to the 
Union Defense Committee. 

I have said we got no money of this committee. We 
did. After several applications to other members, 
General Dix generously came forward in our behalf, 
and procured for us the sum of five hundred dollars. 
Small as this sum was, considering the magnitude of 
our enterprise, and the obligations we had already in- 
curred, it came like a fresh gleam of sunlight through 
dark and discouraging clouds, cheering our spirits and 
giving new life to our energies. The committee had, 
perhaps, good reasons for not giving us more. Some 
of its members told us what had become a stale story. 
It was not certain that cavalry would be called for. 
The authorities at Washington had advised raising in- 
fantry and artillery for immediate use. And cavalry 
regiments were so expensive, volunteer cavalry could 
not be depended on, and the country we had to operate 
in was not suited to the maneuvering of mounted 
troops. Such were the objections we had to overcome 
and work against. 

But we had lost O'Mara, one of our best spirits. 
Frank, outspoken, manly in his every act, and with as 
true a heart as ever beat in a brave Irishman, he had 
served his country faithfully in tlie field when his su- 
periors had turned traitors. Like a good patriot, he 
was again impatient to show his strength in doing 
battle for her cause. He had given us liis services 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 43 

willingly, and without remuneration, and his prompt, 
soldier-like bearing had endeared him to us all. Being 
doubtful of our success, he was offered and accepted a 
commission in the Tammany regiment, with which, as 
I have said before, he distinguished himself for great 
coolness and bravery.- 

Our group of leading spirits, as assembled of a morn- 
ing in the little office at Palace Garden, to talk over 
the affairs of the nation and our own troubles, would 
have formed a fine subject for the pencil of Eastman 
Johnson. There was the meditative Stearns, his briglit 
bald head, and his kindly face — never out of temper, 
and ready to accept disappointment without a sigh — 
to look at the bright side of everything, and never 
say give up while there was a hope. Harkins, who had 
played on many a stage, was ready now to entertain us 
with his amusing stories, his quaint humor, and his in- 
spiriting laugh. Active and impulsive, he would make 
various incursions into Jersey, recount the wonderful 
progress our regiment was making to his friends there, 
and come away with a number of their names on his 
roll. And these pleasant adventures after recruits he 
would recount to us in the morning, in his amusing 
style. There, too, was Bailey, whom we had all come 
to love, for his cool 7ionchalence, his activity, and his 
genial qualities, and his readiness to invite us all to 
the Woodbine, over the way, where he would spend his 
last dollar for what is known among soldiers as " broth- 
erly love," to keep the spirits up. And there Avas 

* He afterwards commanded a western regiment, and fell like a 
hero, leaditig it on at the battle of Chattanooga. 



44 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

Leavctt, (the indomitable Tom,) never behind any man 
when there was work to be done. The liandsome 
Harry Hidden, restless, impatient to get to the field, 
so prim in his attire, his black, piercing eyes warm with 
intelligence, and a curl of manly contempt on his lips 
for those who were desponding and ready to give up 
the enterprise in despair. Fancy this group forming a 
half circle, with the soldierly Ogle (well known in the 
regular army) for a central figure, and you have one of 
as companionable and genial spirits as ever sat together 
discoursing their future prospects in the field. Nor 
must I forget to mention a group that usually assem- 
bled outside and held their deliberations on the pave- 
ment. This was composed of the big politician, whom 
the wits inside had begun to use as a fit subject for 
their jokes, and whose wonderful stories of himself had 
ceased to have efi'ect, except on the mind of some new 
recruit. The melancholy man in black, who had taught 
cavalry tactics over the border, and was always in a 
desponding mood, was sure we never could raise the 
regiment, solely because we did not follow his advice. 
Between the big politician and the melancholy man 
there sprang up a fellow feeling which it was difficult 
either to understand or appreciate, since they were ap- 
posites mentally and physically. The one had a big 
sabre, and wore long, square-toed boots ; the other had 
been a hero in the Mexican war. The little, dark vis- 
aged Major of Venezuelian fame, fraternized with this 
outside group, and indeed gave light and shade, if not 
picturesqueness to it. He was ready always to join 
the big politician over his cups ; but would never agree 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 45 

witli him on a question of arms. And he would dis- 
pute for an hour with the melancholy man over horse- 
flesh, and his skill in the use of the sabre. I noticed 
that all three of these distinguished officers were much 
more inclined to waste time in disputes on their own 
skill than to engage in the more urgent business of 
bringing in recruits. The best recruiting officers were 
those who were freest from self-laudation. 

Hidden would attend of a morning to the recruits, 
inspire them with confidence as to our success, and 
whisper such words of encouragement in their ears as 
would make them feel impatient to be in the field. If 
the recruit were an old soldier, he was sure to want a 
dollar or two. He must drink our health ; he must 
have success to the regiment in a square drink or two 
with a comrade who had served with him during some 
war in Europe. If there were a few shillings left, he 
would use it in first wetting the comrade's eye, and 
then fastening him on the rolls. In this way the " old 
soldiers'' would frequently empty Harry'a pockets, for 
he had a kind heart and could not resist the appeal of 
a soldier. It must be remembered, also, that at that 
day men were not bought to serve their country with 
corrupting bounties. 

The question of how to get a colonel to act with us 
either temporarily or permanently, Was now troubling 
us more than any other. Bailey had been up to West 
Point to see Bayard, tlien our instructor at the acad- 
emy. Bayard was eager to get into the field, but could 
not tlien get the necessary leave of absence from the 
regular army to enable him to join the volunteers. Our 



46 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

effort did not succeed. The big politician offered to 
spend half his immense fortune to get us the right sort 
of a colonel, or, to accommodate matters, he would 
take the position himself. But this kind offer was 
unanimously objected to. In truth, instead of the big 
politician showing us the color of his wealth, no sooner 
had we got possession of the fund appropriated by the 
Union Defense Committee, than he began, to have seri- 
ous designs upon it. There was this must be done, and 
it would take at least fifty dollars to do it. There was 
that must be done, or we could never get on ; and it 
would require sixty dollars to do it. One hundred 
and fifty would be required to do something else 
equally important. I noticed that the politician had a 
queer way of accounting for these sums which he gen- 
erally got, and that was by assuring us upon his honor 
that they had been properly expended. 

Major Merrill, formerly of the regular cavalry, was 
in the successful practice of law in Wall street. He 
was an officer of good reputation, had seen considerable 
service, and, we had been told, was anxious to again 
give his services to his country. A deputation was at 
once organized to wait upon him and tender him the 
command of the regiment. He received the deputation 
kindly, offered to render us any service within his 
power ; but, to our disappointment and chagrin, pro- 
duced proof that he had already offered his services to 
the Government, in licr hour of trial, and requested 
authority to raise a regiment of cavalry. His offer 
had been declined, peremptorily, by Mr. Cameron. 
He did not know why. Jt might be because he had 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER, 47 

some experience, and knew something of cavalry, which 
the Secretary of War regarded as dangerous to the 
rule he had set up for the army about to be organized. 
He, however, offered to serve us to the extent of his 
power, joined us, gave us his advice, presided over our 
deliberations during evenings, and assisted us to make 
a temporary organization. 

And now the time had come to make a temporary 
organization and elect officers to serve nominally. 
There was a great stir at headquarters one night, and 
all those ambitious to serve their gountry as captains 
and lieutenants of cavalry, were hard at work solicit- 
ing influence and votes. Foremost among the most 
active workers was the big politician, who was an 
adept at wire-pulling, and had fixed his very soul on 
the quartermastership, a position then considered to bo 
worth an immense prospective fortune to any man with 
limited scruples as to what the Government lost and 
a private gentleman made. But as this appointment 
was within the gift of the colonel, after the regiment 
should be permanently organized, and not to be voted 
for at this time, the politician resolved to be content 
for the present with the captaincy of company A. 
When drill was over " the men," or rather tliose who 
were considered the rank and file, went to their homes ; 
while those who considered themselves the flower of 
the organization proceeded up into the gallery, and 
seated themselves at a long table, Major Merrill taking 
the head. The major, before proceeding to the busi- 
ness which he had been called to preside over, made us 
a neat little speech, full of good advice and sound com- 



48 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

men sense. He also expressed his surprise that while 
the rebels were moving to action as if touched by one 
spring, our Government should evince a disposition to 
throw obstacles in the way of men whose energy and 
patriotism were producing what it would most need. 
Nor could he understand why the War Department 
should be so averse to men who had seen service in the 
regular army. Three cheers were given for tlie major, 
and we went into the business of voting. The big pol- 
itician, to his own surprise, was declared elected cap- 
tain of company A. Rising with great gravity of 
manner, he began frisking his fingers through his bushy 
hair and pondering over his sentences, for it would not 
do to be thus honored without returning thanks for it. 
The speaker, after hesitating for some time, and acting 
as if his mind were in pursuit of thoughts, which af- 
forded Harkins an excellent opportunity for a display 
of wit, began by saying he had made speeches enough 
but was never good at the beginning. His language 
was evidently refractory, for his words would insist on 
coming out backwards, and sticking half way at that. 
What he intended to say, but did not, was that such a 
distinguished honor was intended, he feared, for some 
one else. He had never sought positions of high trust, 
and if he accepted them it was only because he was 
conscious of having ability enough to fill them satis- 
factorily. A man must not be a martyr to his modesty 
when his country was in danger ; and if he had not 
already, he would in good time, prove to us that patri- 
otism alone found him in our ranks. Harkins, Stearns, 
Battersby, and the little dark-visaged major were also 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 49 

elected captains. Others were content to be first lieu- 
tenants, and some went away disappointed. However, 
we were organized into working parties, and tiiat was 
something. When the evening's work was over we 
retired to the Woodbine over the way, and joined hands 
over a social glass. 



CHAPTER VI. 



PRESSING NECESSITIES. 

The middle of May and still working without au- 
thority. McDowell was in command of the troops 
around Washington, and the country was hung in sus- 
pense with daily rumors of terrible things the rebels 
were doing out west and among the mountains of Vir- 
ginia. Regiments of volunteers were being quickly 
formed in New York and sent to aid the Government. 
At that time true patriotism was aroused, and wives 
parted freely with husbands Avho went to the war, and 
sisters rebuked brothers inclined to stay at home. It was 
popular to be a soldier then ; even a poetic inspiration 
seemed to have seized on the people, and the man had 
some courage who dared stem the rush to arms. These 
things, however, did but increase our anxieties and 
heighten the gloom that hung over our prospects. Other 
regiments were fitting up and going off. We could 
not get ours accepted. Our expenses for rent had in- 
creased alarmingly ; and our kind and forbearing land- 
lord needed what we had not got in the exchequer to 
oivc him. The man who had printed the bio- flamino- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 51 

posters, with the fierce looking trooper at a charge, 
.would look in lo say he wanted a trifle, \\ it would not 
inconvenience us. The gray-bearded man, who had an 
advertising bill, and wanted to join us because he hated 
the soutli and her " niggers," assured us his employers 
needed money or he would not have troubled us. Rent 
for recruiting stations outside was accumulating, and 
the genius of Bailey was sorely taxed for assurances 
that they (tlie importuning landlords) would be paid 
at a future day. To have no money, and yet be able to 
send a creditor away encouraged, is a merit not pos- 
sessed by every gentleman. The poor recruits, too, had 
mouths and needed something to put in tliem. They 
perhaps liad little children looking to them for bread. 
Recruiting officers had to be sent into the country to 
stir up the patriotism of the people, and bring in tlie 
ambitious youth impatient to swing a sabre. Money 
must be provided for tlieir transportation and other 
expenses. We needed five thousand where we had only 
live hundred dollars. It was not pleasant to give our 
time and be compelled to run in debt to serve the Gov- 
ernment. 

Then we had to stop our drills of an evening. Blen- 
ker's regiment of Teutons had spread over the large 
hall, piled its sides Avith their blankets and mattresses, 
and stacked arms in its centre. They used it for a camp 
at night and a banqueting hall by day, with Bologna 
sausage and foaming lager for the feast. Germany was 
just at that time in high feather ; in high feather with 
the autlioritics at Washington ; in liigli feather with 
our politicians ; in high leather with tlicmselves as 



52 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

soldiers superior to all others. Tlie GoTernment was 
inclined to gif e Germany all she demanded ; and there 
was little connected with the army that she did not de- 
mand. Of course we yielded to Germany ; and taking 
our departure from Palace Garden, located next at 
Independence Hall, a narrow little loft over a livery 
stable on Seventh avenue. Things did not prosper 
well with ns here, recruits began to get dissatisfied and 
to drop off, and there was a fair prospect that we would 
have to give up the enterprise and ask our creditors to 
forgive us our sins. It was, however, proposed to send 
another delegation to Washington to get authority for 
Major Merrill to raise the regiment and take command. 
It was thought that the little dark-visaged major, who 
assured ns he had an intimate acquaintance with all 
the high military dignitaries at the capital, might work 
a favorable result with Mr. Cameron. He did indeed 
seem the sort of man Mr. Cameron had a weakness 
for. If, too, the major failed to make an impression 
by his wonderful stories of what he had done in war, 
he was sure to effect his purpose with a few exhibi- 
tions of what he could do with the sabre. 

Well, the major and myself were chosen a delegation 
of two, and started for Washington of a Saturday af- 
ternoon. It was evident, however, that the major re- 
garded the expedition as an affair of pleasure, and was 
inclined to make the most of it. We had not gone far 
when he wanted to see a friend, and left the train for 
the night. On the following day, (Sunday) the major 
joined me at the Continental Hotel, in a most happy 
state of mind. He had on a cavalry jacket, was armed 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 58 

witli a sabre, and had been enjoying his cups with a few 
friends of a military turn, whom he had chanced to meet 
on the road. The wonders of Philadelphia must be 
seen before the major could think of proceeding to 
Washington to do business with high military authori- 
ties. There was Fairmount, and other attractive loca- 
tions to be seen, and the major rolled away in his car- 
riage to astonish people not in uniform. It was late in 
the evening when he returned, feeling very happy, and 
without a care as to how the war went. We started for 
Perryville in the eleven o'clock train, the major armed 
with a big black bottle, the contents of which we would 
need, he said, for the night was wet and stormy. But 
he soon went into a deep sleep, from which he did not 
wake until we reached Perryville, then a place of some 
military importance. The road from Havre-de-Grace to 
Baltimore was destroyed, and some parts of Maryland 
were in a belligerent state. On alighting from the cars 
we were brought to a halt by the guard, two sturdy Ger- 
mans, neither of whom could speak a word of English, 
or were inclined to be on very social terms with any of 
us. Indeed, they several times made feints to charge 
into our solid column, bringing the points of their 
bayonets into an uncomfortable proximity to our noses. 
At this halt we were kept for more than ten minutes, 
the rain pouring down, and sergeant of the guard No. 
2, who was called for about every two minutes, seeming 
resolved not to be disturbed from his sound sleep. Not 
a few imprecations were bestowed upon the head of 
sergeant of the guard No. 2, when he made his ap- 
pearance ; and a few were heard to very emphatically 



54 THE STORY OF A TKOOPEK, 

condemn tlie folly of any military order that went to 
restrict the progress of an American citizen, 

S-ergeant of the guard No. 2 gave the order to pass 
on. The Gorman sentinels sliouldered arms and re- 
sumed their pacing, and the throng of passengers 
rushed down the long and rickety wharf, lumbered 
with all sorts of boxes and bales, and on board a small^ 
cranky steamboat that was to convey ds down the Sus- 
quehanna to Annapolis. It would be difficult to 
imagine anything more disagreeable than this passage. 
The little boat was piled beyond her capacity with 
freight, and swarmed with a sixspicious-looking class of 
passengers, a majority of whom had the seal of Israel 
on their faces, and were bound to the promised land 
just being opened for them by General Butler. There 
was no place to lay down, and sleep was a luxury nOiD 
to be thought of. The mischievous employed the time 
circulating reports of captures just made by the rebels-, 
of fights with our troops at the Relay House, of re- 
verses to our arms at Harper's Ferry, and various 
other reports of an exciting nature, until tlie timid be- 
gan to wish themselves back on the safe soil of Penn- 
sylvania. Stories were told, too, of vessels captured 
down the river, burnt, their owners robbed, or made 
prisoners to the new government j«st skirted by Mr, 
Davis, and which Maryland v;as just tlien strongly in- 
clined to coquette with. In tliis way tlie i-ffeet of tlie 
pitiless storm was relieved. Indeed, th-ero vj-ero not a 
few simple enough to iiiquire of the captain if there 
was much danger of capture by some rebel craft Im'king 
along the coast. ,^ 



TIIR STORY OF A TROOPER. hb 

Aboul: two o'clock in tlic morning the little major 
ipacle his appearance, creating* quite a sensation among 
a throng of ill-featured pei'sons in the after cabin, who 
regarded him with no small degree of curiosity, for he 
wore his kepi, liis cavalry jacket, and a sabre nearly 
as long as himself. He began by lamenting the loss of 
his black bottle, and charged it to the Jews, whom he 
declared to bean unrighteous set of cowards, not one 
of whom dared to cross a sabre with him, or shoot at 
ten paces on the upper deck. Here the major drew 
his sabre and began flourishing it, to the intense alarm 
of all unarmed passengers, for he declared he would 
show us how they treated the Jews in Venezuela when 
he commanded tlie flower of her army. There were 
not a few inquiries as to who the major was, and a 
wag circulated it about that he was a distinguished 
Frencli General, sent over by Napoleon to instruct us 
in the formation of our army. The more sensible set 
him down for a mad adventurer, out of a job, and a 
little tipsy. His expressions of hate for the Jews fail- 
ing to restore his lost liottle, he began drawing a map 
of Venezuela on the deck, with the point of his sabre, 
and then pointed out to the astonished bystanders ex- 
actly where her army was posted during certain battles 
he had taken a prominent part in. In this way he would 
have kept the passengers entertained until daylight, 
but for a stalwart engineer, who picked him up in his 
arms and carried him to the pilot's bunk, where he 
slept soundly until we reached Annapolis. 

Annapolis presented a busy scene just then ; wherever 
the eye turned it met some fresh proof of the restless 



50 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

activity and indomitable energy of General Butler. 
The harbor was full of barges, steamboats, and other 
light draught vessels, some crowded with troops, others 
loaded with munitions of war, forage or subsistence. 
The thirteenth New York (Brooklyn) militia were sta- 
tioned there, and as a proof of their industry and en- 
gineering skill, had built several extensive piers and 
storehouses, and laid the railroad track from the de- 
pot in the town down to and along the Government 
wharves. We arrived just in time to see the first train 
make its entrance into the grounds amidst the cheers 
of the troops. A great change had suddenly come over 
Annapolis ; a change that might have been turned to 
great results in the future, had the people made their 
thoughts and actions conform to it. But they were 
moody and sullen, and seemed to regard with distrust, 
if not outspoken dislike, the busy scene that was being 
enacted inside of the Government grounds. A little 
after ten o'clock the train started for Washington, filled 
with a motley throng of passengers. General Butler 
and his staff accompanied us as far as the junction. He 
was on his way to the Relay House, to direct some mili- 
tary movements going on there. All along the road, at 
short intervals, were guards protecting the road, their 
rustic huts, made of boughs and underwood, presenting 
quite a picturesque appearance. The good Maryland- 
ers along the road were very uncertain in their loyalty. 
It was not safe, perhaps, to be open traitors, though 
slavery had fixed their sympathies with the south ; and 
the question with many of them was, would patriotism 
be profitable ? Not a few of the " most respectable " and 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 57 

more wealthy amonn^ them would, undercover of dark. 
ness, have picked up a rail here and there, or destroyed 
a bridge, to show their contempt of the '' Lincoln Gov- 
ernment." 

The storm had ceased, tlie day was warm and. sunny, 
and it was one o'clock when we reached Washington, 
then transformed into a vast camp. War had already 
begun to write the liistory of its work on objects 
about the city. Armed with a passport from the Union 
Defense Committee, setting forth that I was a good 
and loyal citizen, I passed guards everywhere and 
gained ready admittance " witliin tlie lines." Pennsyl- 
vania avenue was thronged with men in uniform ; sol- 
diers lounged on the grass plats, and disorder and 
want of discipline were already working their evil 
effect. And, too, it seemed as if all the bad and char- 
acterless men of the countr}^ had gathered into the 
capital with a view of procuring prominent places in 
the army. The nation and its cause has since suffered 
because tliese men generally got what they demanded. 



3* 



CHAPTER. VII 



STRANGE SCENES IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. 

But if the city was a great camp, it liad indeed tlie 
appearance of being without a commander. Ehode 
Island troops had turned the south end of the Treasury 
building into a barracks, and some Baker who needed 
employment as a spy was daily discovering rebel plots 
to blow it up. These ridiculous reports, originating 
with bad men among ourselves, seriously disturbed 
the slumbers of certain aged ladies, and also weakened 
the nerves if not the knees of a weak-kneed Cabinet. 
Bad men out of business sought and found employment 
through the fears of those in high ofSce. A French 
philosopher once told me that it had cost some nations 
more to arm tlieir fears than to defend themselves 
against their foes. With what I saw around me I be- 
gan to think there was some trutli in what this savan 
had said. Some rulers so fear their friends that they 
lose half tlieir strength when they undertake to fight 
their country's enemies. It looked to me at tliis mo- 
ment as if fear was to lead us into many damaging er- 
rors. But of this I shall say more in a more appropri- 
ate place. cT 



THE STORY OP A TROOPER. 59 

Miclii<2:aD, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massacliusetts 
troops swarmed over the city ; were quartered in 
stores and houses along the avenue, and made the very 
air echo with their merry voices, for war was a novelty 
then. The Patent Office shared with other buildings 
its spacious halls for the accommodation of troops. 
How little control the officers had over their men, 
what must have been the discipline and the spirit of 
recklessness that ruled among all, might have been 
read with pain on tlie defaced and disfigured walls of 
those noble buildings. Men who would have scrupu- 
lously protected their own property at home, and in- 
deed blushed at the vandal who dared lay vile hands 
on the public buildings of any country, saw their men 
deface these noble monuments of our progress without 
a word of rebuke. And what, let me ask, could be 
expected of men in an enemy's country whose acts 
were to destroy rather than protect our own public 
buildings ? 

It was, however, in the Capitol of the nation that the 
finger of desecration had written its work in the boldest 
outlines. This building, so admired by men of taste 
of every nation, was turned into a garrison. The lower 
floor served as a storehouse, its costly tiles broken 
into crumbs, and tlie frescoed walls, blackened and de- 
faced, frowning upon huge piles of beef and flour bar- 
rels. The second or main floor presented a still more 
sad and unsightly scene. A Brooklyn regiment, com- 
posed chiefly of Germans, were encamped licre, and the 
men seemed to regard it their duty to deface or des- 
troy whatever they came in contact with. Tlio l)cau- 



60 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

tiful corridors, on wliicli art liad exliausted itself in 
decoration, were wantonly defaced, and strewn with 
the litter of filthy mattrasses. You could here see how 
soon war lets loose all the had passions and makes man 
the most destructive of animals. You could see, also, 
how the soldier, once his spirit of destruction is aroused, 
does not stop to inquire whether the property he des- 
troys belongs to friend or foe. If works of art in the 
Capitol of the nation found no respect at the hands of 
our soldiers, how little could we expect from them for 
property in an enemy's country ? 

In the new hall where our representatives assemble, 
there was being enacted when I entered a strange and 
grotesque scene. It would be doing injustice to this 
history did I not record it. In the Speaker's chair sat 
a grave but stalwart German, with the short thick 
neck and broad shoulders of an Hercules, a big bullet 
head, close cropped, a flat inexpressive face, and his 
brawny arms bared to the elbows. His only raiment 
was a shirt and trowsers, and no Speaker within my 
recollection has ever presented so giant-like a figure. 
Behind him bristled stacks of bright muskets. Accou- 
trements hung here and there from and disfigured the 
walls, while pistols and side-arms lay before him on 
the Speaker's desk. In front of this desk several of his 
comrades had gathered, having taken part in a very 
boisterous but good tempered debate. The man then 
addressing the chair, or rather he who sat in it with 
such clever mock gravity, was tall, lank of figure, and 
the features of his face would have done justice to Don 
Quixote. He spoke with great fluency, clear emphasis, 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 61 

and fierce gesticulation. He spoke in the tongue of his 
fatherland, and I could not get from any one near me, 
so intent were they on listening, what tlie subject un- 
der debate was. The speaker was evidently a man of 
some humor, for every few minutes he would send his 
audience into a roar of laugliter, and so disturb proper 
decorum that the man in the chair would rise and com- 
mand order. It was clear they were burlesquing, per- 
haps imitating, scenes enacted by the country's legisla- 
ture in the same place. The tall man was evidently a 
great favorite, for tliere was great cheering when he 
sat down, and not a few of his companions gathered 
about him offering bread and sausage, and indeed be- 
stowing upon him various tokens of appreciation. A 
little frisky German, who had several times attempted 
to interrupt the tall man in the course of his speech, 
now rose and was greeted with cries I could under- 
stand to mean — put him out. He had a short, crooked 
nose, this little man, a tea-kettle shaped head, and was 
what is called bandy-legged. He reminded me of Foot 
when he rose in the Senate. He always wanted to be 
up, and nobody could keep him down. He was never 
happy in his seat, and when he was up he seldom had 
anything sensible to say. 

The little frisky man began by frisking in «.nd out 
among his comrades, making strange motions with his 
head and fingers at the man in the chair. The chair 
was not inclined to receive this without rebuke, and 
rising, in defense of its dignity, threatened to throw a 
Colt's revolver at the bulgy head of tlie peace dis- 
turber. At this the little man made several polite 



G2 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

bows, and would have put a question of privileg-e had 
not the chair summarily ruled him out of order. But 
he was resolved not to regard himself out of order, and 
turning to some one in a distant part of the house be- 
gan ejaculating something I could not understand, and 
shaking his clenched fists in a paroxysm of passion. 
The chair now ordered him in arrest, and a file of three 
men bore him off to one of the committee rooms, then 
used as a guard-liouse. Several other things common 
to parliamentary usage were gone through, with con- 
siderable resemblance to the reality. But it was im- 
possible to witness this strange scene without feelings 
of pain and sorrow. Some of the members' desks were 
broken to pieces ; otliers were rendered useless ; otiiers 
were used by half-clad soldiers to rest their feet upon. 
Soldiers sat in the chairs of members, cleaning their 
muskets, or brushing up their belts. The gleam of 
bright muskets and bayonets shooting up through the 
body of tlie house, and resting against the frescoed 
walls, excited a recollection of Rome, when soldiers 
entered the Senate and murdered or drove out the Sena- 
tors. The costly furniture, sofas, and settees, that 
stood along the rear of the hall were broken to frag- 
ments. A similar scene of destruction might have been 
seen in- the galleries. And this work of wantonness, 
this vandalism of the nineteenth century, the officers 
who permitted it meriting the severest censure, the 
Germans now on duty cliarged as the work of the First 
New York Zouaves — a regiment made up of, I regret 
to say, firemen. j\ry own opinion is that the Germans 
did quite as mucli, if not more than the Zouaves, to 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 63 

produce this scene of wreck in the capital of the na- 
tion. 

I went from the House of Representatives to the 
Senate cliamber, of which we were all so proud. It 
was filled with soldiers ; its furniture was broken, its 
desks destroyed, the paintings on the walls bleared and 
defaced. Respect and reverence seemed gone, and the 
brutal conduct of men placed here to guard and protect, 
deserved the severest censure. The President's desk 
was used as a rack for fire-arms, and the broken sofas 
and chairs were piled in a promiscuous heap against 
the side walls. There was no need of turning the Sen- 
ate Chamber into a camp. There was no need of dese- 
crating the Halls of Congress, and turning the Capitol 
of the nation into a barracks. Its grounds afforded 
ample shelter for the troops, and if the enemy had con- 
templated an attack upon it the troops could have de- 
fended it as well from without as within. But the 
enemy, with all his crimes, and they are manifold, never 
seriously contemplated an attack on Washington. 
His policy when the war began was to act strictly 
on the defensive. When he changed that policy he 
well knew how strongly Washington had been for- 
tified, and what an attempt to take it would cost 
him. 

I must now return to the object of my mission. I 
had been three days in the city, and through the kind- 
ness of a friend in the War Department had succeeded 
in Q-ettino; two interviews with Mr. Cameron. It 
seemed to me there was no man in the United States 
more to be pitied, since nearly all his time and attcn- 



64 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

tion was absorbed (or at least I thought it was) in giv- 
ing sutlersliips to old friends in Pennsjdvania, and in- 
vesting needy lawj^ers with authority to raise regiments. 
As to cavalry he was still uncertain about its useful- 
ness in this war. He had consulted various writers, 
and was trying to make up his mind as to what cavalry 
had and had not done in other wars. He was not sure 
that cavalry added much to the real strength of an 
army. Young men would no doubt like to ride to the 
war at the country's expense ; but to open a great na- 
tional riding school for the accommodation of these 
young gentlemen was a question requiring very serious 
consideration. At all events there was no need of 
going beyond Pennsylvania for cavalry. Pennsylvania 
was a great horse-growing State. Her people were 
honest, and most of them could ride. Her farmers, in 
many places, still went to mill mounted. It was clear 
that Mr. Cameron's faitli in raising cavalry enough for 
the war was firmly fastened to Pennsylvania, while the 
innocence of liis ideas respecting that arm of the ser- 
vice was worthy of the Duke of Newcastle, once Eng- 
land's Minister of War. 

The Secretary saw another serious obstacle in the 
way, and no means of overcoming it. He regarded 
*' the regulations" as his master ; and there was noth- 
ing in the regulations to warrant him in supplying 
horses to our volunteer cavalry. Every man must 
provide his own horse and equipments. For the use 
of the horse the Government would pay forty cents 
a day, with an equal amount for forage. Now, it is 
very easy to see how few men willing to enter the 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 65 

cavalry service would have the means of providing 
tlieir own horses and equipments. Such a system, if 
continued, would have been fatal to the organization 
of a volunteer cavalry. There were undoubtedly men 
enough ready to have stepped in and supplied the 
horses ; but few can fail to see how wide a field for 
the operations of speculators in bad horse-flesh it 
would have opened. General Meigs took a more in- 
telligent view of this subject, and to him is due the 
credit of opening the eyes of the Government to the 
necessity of changing this system and mounting our 
volunteer cavalry at its own expense. 

It was early June, and although Mr. Cameron could 
give us no encouragement as to whether the regiment 
would be accepted, he advised keeping up the organi- 
zation, and trusting to what the further necessities of 
the war might produce. I had scarcely left the War 
Department, however, when I heard that the " Gov- 
ernment" had made a colonel of Mr. Carl Schurz, and 
authorized him to raise a regiment of cavalry, to be 
composed chiefly of Germans, whose military skill the 
Government was at that time inclined to place a high 
price upon. Indeed, it may be added with truth, that 
the Government had at that time a strange and unac- 
countable weakness for German soldiers, and was quick 
to bestow its favors on such as applied for high com- 
mands. This may account for the readiness with which 
Mr. Schurz, a gentleman of fme literary tastes, ob- 
tained what had been refused experienced officers who 
had served in our regular cavalry. Events have since 
shown how much the Government had to learn before 



GO THE STORY OP A TROOPER. 

it came to place a proper value on American courage 
and American talent. 

I had been four days in Wasliington, and seen noth- 
ing of the little Major since our arrival. I began to 
be much concerned about him, for lie had expressed to 
me great anxiety to get into the very heart of Vir- 
ginia, and give the rebels a taste of his courage. He, 
however, confronted me in the afternoon, in the sitting 
room of Willards' hotel, very mellow, physically as 
well as mentally ; and the story he related to me was 
very remarkable, as well in its manner of delivery as 
in its deliberate disregard of truth. " Bin troubled 
iver since we arrived," said the Major, with an 
unsafe motion of the body, '' with ickups and tic- 
dol-rue. Had a d — 1 of a time, altogether. Regi- 
ment's no go. Government don't want it, won't ac- 
cept it — no use for cavalry, no how. Cost the country 
too much, you know. Seen General Scott, renewed 
old acquaintance. Said he had not seen anybody he 
was so glad to see since the war. Gave me his chair 
and took another. Talked over Mexico. Took two 
cocktails with him, one before breakfjist, t'otlier just 
after. Man of solid ideas, sir, and a soldier. Knows 
just the kind of men needed for this war. A]> 
pointed me to tlie command of the scouts — riglit oif, 
to-morrow. You'll hear from me, old fellow. Man's 
curious : up David to-day, down David to-morrow. 
David's up to-day." The Major continued in this 
strange strain for several minutes, then oscillated into 
a chair, drew close to me, and continued in a whisper, 
" Got tlie whole plan of the war. So much for the old 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 67 

general's confidence in me. Off into Virginia to 
morrow. Paid respects to President; exc]ianged jokes 
with liim ; told him he could rely on me when he wanted 
a friend. Bless 3^ou, sir, these big men all know me. 
Caleb Gushing (met him yesterday and tipped glasses) 
said, what can I do to serve you, Major ? say the word 
and ril see you made a general. Seward invited me 
to dine with him, and wanted to know how long the 
war would last. Said he was sorry I could not dine 
with him, and laughed when I said the war would last 
a year. Cameron was studying the Pegulations. Said 
I miglit be at better business than raising cavalry to 
ruin the nation. Couldn't see cavalry that wasn't 
raised in Pennsylvania, where people were honest." 
The Major rose from his chair, bid me good bye, and 
taking the arm of a companion, also under the influ- 
ence of tic-dol-rue, they both went oscillating out of 
the room. This was the last I saw of the little Major, 
nor have I heard of him durino: the war. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE WAY WE GOT A COLONEL. 

When I returned to New York a great change had 
taken place in our affairs. Our headquarters had been 
removed back to Palace Garden, and the prospects of 
our organization were brighter than I had expected to 
find them. Mr. Carl Schurz, in addition to his commis- 
sion as colonel of cavalry, had been appointed Minister 
to Spain. Not many years ago we were represented, 
or rather misrepresented, at that Court by a frisky 
Frenchman, who excited among Spaniards the remark 
that it was strange a people so intelligent as the Amer- 
icans had to get foreigners to represent them abroad. 

We were now to be represented at the Court of 
Madrid by a very talkative German, between whose 
countrymen and the Spaniards there never existed any 
very high respect. What sending a German to repre- 
sent us at the Court of Madrid could do to heighten the 
respect of Spaniards for us, I leave such of my readers 
as have resided in Spain to form an opinion. Some 
persons have said Mr. Schurz could have been better 
provided for and made more useful at home. Certain 
it is he was in c^reat tribulation, and for some time un- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 69 

decided whether to go into the field — a hero at the 
head of a regiment of troopers — or to proceed to Spain 
and enjoy the dignity of a four years' residence at 
Madrid, To be sure, he knew nothing of cavalry, 
although he had recently given himself to the study of 
books on the subject. And he had authorized Count 
Moltki, as fierce a looking trooper as ever swung sabre, 
to proceed to the formation of a German organization. 
The Count gathered about him several other gay 
troopers from fatherland, and, be it said to his credit, 
was not long in collecting a goodly number of Teutonic 
braves ready to take the field under his command. 

Colonel Carl Schurz walked the streets of New 
York day after day, now fancying himself at the head 
of a regiment of troopers, making brilliant charges on 
the enemy's lines, and for his gallantry winning fame 
that would live and brighten in the history of the war; 
now fancying himself a Minister at Madrid, the com- 
panion of distinguished diplomatists and the sharer of 
Queen Isabella's smiles. The would-be trooper could not 
resist the attractions of Madrid. He decided to go to 
Spain. The question now was how to get rid of his 
commission as colonel, and also to escape the suspicion 
that he was afraid to take the field, for there was any 
number of swash-bucklers in the market at that time, 
and to be numbered among them was fatal to a gentle- 
man with high diplomatic pretensions. 

We, too, had got a colonel, a gentleman who claimed 
Ireland as his birthplace ; was proud that he could 
claim her, but was just from Michigan, where he had 
for some years been engaged in the twin professions of 



70 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 



law and politics. In appearance one might have mis- 
taken our new colonel for a village schoolmaster some- 
time out of a job. He was a man of middle stature, 
with a round pleasant face, and hair that hung far 
down over the collar of a shabby black dress coat. 
His neck was encased in a stiff satin stock such as New 
England clergymen used to wear twenty years ago. 
His vest was of well-worn black satin ; a big cameo 
pin illuminated a dingy shirt bosom, his trousers 
were black and thready, and a pair of dilapidated mo- 
rocco boots ornamented his feet. I had almost for- 
gotten to mention a tall and somewhat damaged hat, 
which he wore jauntily on the top of his head, and a 
pair of heavy brass-bowed spectacles, that worked 
every few minutes to the tip of a blunt nose, and gave 
him a deaconish air. But our colonel was a man of 
rare genius, and not to be judged by his clothes. In- 
deed, I have no doubt he wore the latest and most 
approved style of dress known to the legal profession 
in Michigan. I must add also that he had fought, and 
gallantly, too, in our war with Mexico, where he was a 
captain of cavalry. He had charged side by side with 
the gallant Kearney, when with a mere troop of cav- 
alry he (Kearney) drove the enemy in confusion over 
the causeway and up to the very gates of the city of 
Mexico. The brave Kearney lost his arm there. There, 
too, our colonel was wounded, and he showed you a 
paralyzed arm as the proof of his valor. He was ripe 
of those genial qualities which give strength to friend- 
ships between men, and are exceedingly valuable in 
camp. If he lacked quick4iess and decision, he could 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 71 

sing you a good song, tell you a story of something 
pleasant in the past, enjoy a companion over his cups, 
yes, and he had a speech for you after dinner, and few 
could beat him at a rubber of whist. 

Here was an excellent opportunity for Colonel Carl. 
Schurz to get rid of the difficulty the War Department 
had fastened upon him. That astute diplomat and 
candidate for martial honors saw in McReynolds, for 
such was our colonel's name, a means of transferring 
his commission as colonel of cavalry, and proceeding 
on his way to Spain, where he could enjoy in peace the 
pleasures of a residence near the Court of Madrid. 
The big politician, too, thought this an excellent op- 
portunity to display his talents, and taking both 
colonels under his shadow, seriously disturbed their 
peace of mind with his attentions. There was nothing 
he could not do for them, even if his influence had to 
be exerted over the Cabinet at Washington. There, 
he would assert, his patriotism was appreciated, though 
not a few of us knew he was at heart as arrant a rebel 
as could be found south of Culpepper. But so afraid 
was he that either colonel should suspect him of being 
anything less than a patriot, ready to shed his blood 
or spend his immense fortune for the cause of the 
Union, that it was difficult to get him to leave them, 
if only for an hour. Or, if he left one it was to ap- 
pear before the other, his hat in his hand, making 
sundry obsequious bows. He always wanted to assure 
the Minister to Spain that he could serve him in 
various ways, and consider it an high honor to Ijc 
afforded the op^iorluniiy. And so persistent were his 



72 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

offers that Mr. Scliiirz began to regard himself as reg- 
ularly beseiged. He was much concerned, too, and 
spent many sleepless nights, lest he should not get the 
eagles soon enough on the shoulders of our colonel. 
Indeed, there was little business he did not manage to 
get himself mixed up in, to the serious injury and delay 
of whatever we undertook ; and yet he never for one 
hour attended to his own, which was to recruit for 
Company A, which he boasted of having the honor to 
command, though every man in it had long since set him 
down for a fool, and not to be served under for a day. 
Various meetings were held, and after the exchange 
of several propositions it was agreed on the part of 
Carl Schurz, Minister to Spain and colonel of cavalry, 
on the one side, and our colonel, for himself, on the 
other : first, that the commission lield by Mr. Schurz, 
with the authority it conferred to raise a regiment of 
cavalry, be transferred to our colonel ; second, that 
four companies of Germans were to be admitted a part 
of the regiment ; third, that they should elect officers 
of their own countrymen ; fourtli, that the position of 
lieutenant colonel should be given to a German. This 
done, Mr. Schurz was free to proceed on his mission to 
Spain; to seek civil and not military glory. This 
compromise, so quickly agreed upon and so satisfactory 
to Mr. Schurz, had to be sanctioned by the War De- 
partment before it became valid. A delegation must 
be sent to Washington; money must be provided to 
pay its expenses. Here was a nice job for the big pol- 
itician, whose fingers always had a remarkable itching 
for what little money we had in the treasury. This 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 73 

remarkable delegation, to effect what could have been 
done in an hour by one man, consisted of our colonel, 
Captain Stearns, Captain Boyd, (who was raising a 
compan}^ for us in Philadelphia,) and the big* politician, 
who was sure nothing could be done in Washington 
without him. This man must have three hundred and 
fifty dollars, at least, to pay the expenses, and as that 
was just the amount we had in the treasury, the contri- 
bution of a generous friend, there was not a shilling left 
to warm up the courage of a new recruit at the Wood- 
bine. What earthly use the big politician could be in 
Washington not one of us could see. Seriously speak- 
ing, one might as well have sent our little bugler, ab 
ill-begotten an item of flesh and blood as ever was born 
into this or any other world, and a melancholy illustra- 
tion of all the vices known to human kind, though ho 
boasted of having sounded his bugle from Maine to 
Mexico. 

The W^ar Department was inclined to regard Ger- 
mans as superior to Americans for cavalry, and hes- 
itated to ratify the agreement. The President, how- 
ever, stepped in and put an end to the delay by ordering 
the regiment to be accepted, with Colonel McReynolds, 
and filled up with all speed. This done our delegation 
returned to New York, much elated with its success, 
the credit of which the big politician took entirely to 
himself. We now went on recruiting rapidly — the 
Germans for themselves, the Americans for themselves. 
And as we were in better spirits, we changed our head- 
quarters to Disbrow's riding school, where many an 
4 



74 THE STORY OP A TIlOOFER, 

amusing scene in the history of our recruiting was 
enacted. 

The Germans were a fine, soldierly looking set of 
men, especially their officers, and adapted themselves 
to circumstances better than the Americans. Most of 
them had seen military service in their own country, 
were familiar with the tactics, and, indeed, knew all the 
details of organizing much better than we did. Nor 
were they free from boasting of their superior military 
knowledge, and what they would do in battle when the 
time came. We were always giving ourselves much 
trouble as to who was to pay the subsistence bills we 
were incurring, for Congress had not yet passed the 
twenty million act for the reimbursement of such per- 
sons as had paid money for recruiting, subsisting, and 
organizing new regiments. The Germans gave them- 
selves no such concern. Their officers enjoyed good 
dinners with an abundance of Rhine wine, and enter- 
tained their friends. With them lager was a potent 
recruiting sergeant, and there was no stint of it among 
the men, who fared sumptuously and also entertained 
their friends. A merrier or better natured set of fel- 
lows never bivouacked. They gave themselves no con- 
cern as to who would pay the bills, having great faith 
in the large generosity of the Government they were to 
fight for. And when they had eaten their credit out in 
one place tliey would quietly move to another, form the 
acquaintance of a new host, and enjoy his fare. In this 
way tliere came to be numerous confiding Germans, 
each with a ])ill for several hundred dollars, and anx- 
ious to get them paid without delay. The German 



TUE STORY OF A TROOPEFw. 75 

officers were polite gentlemen, who would put their im- 
portuning creditors on the rack and tell them not to 
get impatient. Our creditors were likewise uneasy, and 
had to be put off with the best kind of promises we 
could invent. But recruits came in rapidly, and our 
companies were filling up, some of them with sons of 
the first families in New York. The big politician was 
making a great deal of trouble for us outside, and had 
not recruited a man for his company, which was being 
filled up through the efforts of Ogle, Bailey, and others. 
The tall melancholy man in black, too, had taken it 
into his head to feel aggrieved, and instead of recruiting 
his company (B) had placed himself under the shadow 
of the big politician ; and both went about like bears 
in tribulation, creating bad feeling between the Ger- 
mans and Americans. Sometimes they would be accom- 
panied by the little bugler, who had a strange weakness 
for keeping their company, and, indeed, blowing his 
trumpet for them in exchange for a sixpenny dram, to 
which they would frequently invite him. It is indeed 
doubtful Avhether Company B would have been made up 
in New York, had not Captain Henry B. Todd stepped 
in and with remarkable energy filled up its ranks. 

There was among the Germans a short, fair-haired 
man of ponderous dimensions, weighing more than tliree 
hundred pounds, and blessed with a good temper. Ho 
was short of legs and l)ody, liad a strange gait, and 
required the aid of four men to mount his horse. His 
name was Hurtzog, and he was known in tlie regiment 
as little Bob, the liglit-horseman. Bob was a riglit 
merry fellow, was kind to his men, never out of temper, 



76 THE STORY or a trooper. 

brave withal, and continually falling in love witli little 
women. He was fond of dancing, and could sing toler- 
ably well. In triitli, lie afforded ns mncli amusement, 
and was always ready to enjoy a joke made by any one 
at Ills expense. I mention liim here bccansc he per- 
formed some amusing parts during our campaign on 
the Peninsula. 



CHAPTER IX. 



SUNDRY MATTERS. 

I may, perhaps, have written much that may seem of 
a personal character, and not particularly interesting 
to the general reader. My object, however, is to show 
how one or two improper, as well as incompetent per- 
sons, fastened on a regiment through intrigue and fraud, 
and wliose loyalty is at least open to suspicion, may 
destroy discipline and endanger the usefulness of that 
regiment. This was the case with our regiment ; and 
it was not the only one in tlie Army of the Potomac 
that had to contend against the bad influence of a few 
officers, obnoxious to the rest of tlie regiment. On the 
breaking out of the war the wortliJcss men who had 
fastened themselves on the public institutions of the 
country during the administrations of James Buchanan 
and Pierce, found themselves discharged and out of em- 
ployment. Many of these men were as rank secession- 
ists as were to be found under the innnediate sliadow of 
Mr. Jefferson Davis, The outward signs tliey gave 
were no proof of wliat their liearts felt and tlicir liands 
would have done, were it not for tlie fear of detection 
and that loyal public sentiment, then so thoroughly 



78 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

aroused. These men must have sometliin/^ to do, and 
finding themselves dismissed from offices tliey had dis- 
graced, fastened tliemselves on the army only to corrupt 
it. Those familiar "with the many obstacles General 
McClellan had to overcome in organizing the Army of 
the Potomac, also know how mnch trouble these men 
gave him. Innocent of all military knowledge, and car- 
rying into the army with them all that spirit of intrigue 
common to the petty politician, they were continu- 
ally increasing the labors of generals, continually 
spreading dissensions among the men for selfish mo- 
tives, and never found attending to their proper duties. 
Many of these worthless men sought and obtained 
positions as quartermasters, a position regarded, when 
the war began, as affording the means of making a 
great fortune in a short time. What tlieir peculations 
have cost the nation is too well and painfully known 
to the people. Political influence obtained for others 
positions as field officers ; this over tlie lieads of worthy, 
loyal, and brave men. Feeling their own incapacity, 
many of these men sought to screen it by leaving to 
more competent subordinates the labor Government 
was paying them to perform. The Administration was 
in a measure to blame for this, since in its haste to con- 
ciliate the opposite party, it was constantly giving 
places of high trust in the army to men known to be 
without character, and utterly unfit mentally or morally 
to fill tliem. I have noticed also, tliat tlie most worth- 
less of these men were the most ambitious of rank and 
and pay ; generally succeeded in getting both. It is safe 
tO say that one worthless officer costs the Government 



THE STORY OP A TROOPER. 79 

ten times as nuicli as an efficient one. Indeed I think I 
am not wroni^ in saying that I liave known officers at- 
tached to the Army of tlie Potomac, whom the Govern- 
ment might, with proht to itself, have paid to fight in 
tlie ranks of the rebels. Experience has shown me also, 
tiiat one disloyal officer in our own ranks, can work a 
more damaging influence than a whole regiment of the 
enemy in our front. 

It was now July. The Germans had carried a very 
high feather for some time, passing us with an air of 
coldness and high military superiority, and it was evi- 
dent that some influence was at work exciting a very 
bad feeling between us. We were for some time at a 
loss how to account for this feeling, but as it grew 
deeper and deeper every day, and was likely to be very 
damaging in its results, means were instituted to dis- 
cover its source. It was soon discovered that the big 
politician was at the bottom of it. In order to make 
friends with the Germans he had hung about their 
camp, shared their hospitality, flattered their vanity, 
and caused them to believe that the Americans were all 
intriguing against them. He could do a great deal for 
them, and intended to do it. He was their true friend, 
and all they had to do was to stand by him. He always 
did like the Germans, and it was the regret of his life 
that he could not speak their language. The Ameri- 
cans were jealous of his wealth and his power ; but he 
w^ould show them Uint tliey must do justice by the 
Germans. This was but a specimen of tlie means tlie 
])ig ])oliticia}i used to cflect an object. He had set his 
heart on being quartermaster of the regiment, and w^as 



80 THE STOHY OF A TROOrER. 

using tins means to get tlic German officers to recom- 
mend liim as a tit and proper person for tlie position. 
His miscliievous propensities, however, did not rest 
here, for he sought among the Americans, and used 
similar means to excite bad feeling against the Ger- 
mans. This war, I may say, and with truth, has had 
no more remarkable character, for while he was rest- 
less in spreading mischief, he could not be got to attend 
to his proper business for an hour ; and there was no 
indiirnitv he would not submit to with a bow. 

There was great excitement at headquarters one day, 
caused by a letter just received fi^om the collector of 
the port, making a strange disclosure in which the loy- 
alty of our political friend was involved. A group of 
our officers stood in the centre of the ring as 1 entered, 
and I recognized the manly figure of Harry Hidden, 
his face flushed with indignation. Anything mean or 
deceitful found a terrible enemy in Harry, and he Avas 
irivino; vent to his feelins:s in stroni*: and earnest Ian- 
guage, at the traitor who dared show himself among us 
in the disguise of a loyal man. The letter was handed 
me to i-ead and suggest some course of action. I must 
say here also, that it was shown to our colonel. Hav- 
ing had good reasons for suspecting the loyalty of the 
big politician, and hearing that he had been employed 
in the Custom House, one of our officers wrote to the 
collector making inquiries concerning him. This letter 
contained the reply, which set fouth that he had been 
dismissed for open and avowed sympathy with the 
traitors of his country. And this was the man who 
had given us so much trouble ; who was working to be 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 81 

made quartermaster of the regiment — a position where 
lie could distress brave men and plunder the Gov- 
ernment he secretly hated. He was called up by Ogle 
and others as soon as he appeared at headquarters, and 
asked what ho had to say in reply to the grave charges 
contained in the letter, which was handed liim to read. 
His answers not being satisfactory, he was given to 
understand that hereafter his absence from headquar- 
ters would be more welcome than his presence. We ail 
now enjoyed a feeling of relief, and flattered ourselves 
that we had got rid of xi man who had given us much 
trouble, and whose presence in the regiment could not 
fail to have a damaging effect. 

And now I must turn to a different phase of our 
organization, and, for a time, leave our political friend 
in obscurity. 

It was interesting, as well as instructive, to witness 
the distinctive traits of national character developed 
by recruits as they presented themselves for onlistment. 
The American joined the service because he wanted to 
serve his country and put down the rebellion. So did 
the Irishman, whose earnestness was such that no man 
could question his loyalty. Englishmen were full of 
conceits, did not care much about the war, were willing 
to iiglit on that side which paid best, and as the Ameri- 
cans didn't know much about war, were sure always to 
w^ant to give us a great deal of instruction as to how 
they did it in their country. While a few of us were 
seated in the office one day, quietly enjoying our pipes 
and suggesting plans to get some of the companies mus- 
tered in, a little ))andy-legged Englishman presented 



82 THE STORY OP A TROOPER, 

himself, and with an air of great self-importance de- 
mantled to see the recruiting hofficcr. He liad on thick- 
soled shoes, his bandy legs were incased in a pair of 
tight-fitting breeches ; a short blue coat with huge side 
pockets scarcely reached his hips, and a tall hat, of 
sloping crown, gave a quaintness to his short figure. 
" Seein as 'ow you wus raisin a cavalry regiment," said 
lie, addressing one of our officers, "I thought I'de just 
drap hin 'an see if you'd han hopinin for a mon whoes a 
first rate rough rider. Doeant hunderstand mich about 
rough ridin in this kuntry, I take it ? 

In reply to an inquiry as to where he had served, he 
said : *' In Lunnun, sir. Bien rough rider to Lord 
Cardigan : he as fought so hin the Crimear. Eard o' 
him, sir, 'spose ? Dun a deal o' rough ridin, here and 
there. Seein in the journals as 'ow you wus a raisin a 
regiment^ I says to myself here Hugh, a chance now 
ofiers to get the possishun as hinstructor in rough 
riding." Here the little man, who was the very picture 
of an English groom, began to draw from a side pocket 
numerous grimey papers, which he said bore testimony 
to his character as an honest man as well as his skill 
as a rider. It was agreed among us that something 
must be done for tlie rougli rider. We proposed to 
make him a lieutenant of cavalry and general instructor 
in rough riding, though no such position could be found 
in the Regulations. Would he give us a taste of his 
skill before we enrolled him a candidate for the parch- 
ment .^ That would just suit him. If any gentleman 
"'ad a OSS as wuscnt wiel broken to the zaddle," let 
him be brought out, and he would show us two or three 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 83 

tilings in rough riding none of us Americans liad seen 
before. 

• Now, as I Iiave before said, tliere was in tlic regi" 
ment one Sergeant Ditcher, a poor but honest man. 
He had served under Lord Cardigan, and was one of 
the very few who returned from that desperate charge 
at Balaclava, led by the brave Nolen. An admiring 
friend had made Ditcher a present of a horse, a brute 
so vicious tliat few dare go near him. It required 
some courage as well as skill in horsemanship to mount 
this animal, for when he took it into his head he would 
unsaddle his rider in a trice. The horse was brought 
out, and the ring prepared for an exhibition of the 
rough rider's skill. He examined the bit and found 
fault with it; he found fault with the headstall, with 
the apparent docility of the animal. He called the 
saddle (McClellan) a rocking chair, made of wood 
when it ought to have been made of leather. The foot 
guards no skillful rider in his country, he said, would 
think of usint>'. In Eno-land, saddles were made of 
pig skin, and her Majesty saw that her troopers all 
had soft seats. After the little rough rider had ex- 
hausted his fault-finding propensities we induced him 
to mount, which he did with some effort. Once or 
twice the animal bounded wildly around the ring. 
Some one cracked a whip, he stopped, made a sudden 
back motion, and the teacher of rough riding was seen 
turning a somersault over his head. The horse stood 
motionless over the prostrate figure on the ground. 
But the unfortunate rider was soon on his feet, saying 
he was not hurt much, and lamentinir the destruction 



84 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

of his tall hat, aiul the damage otherwise done to his 
breeches, lie would not give in to a liorse like that, 
he said ; and to show us that the misfortune was en- 
tirely owing to his own carelessness he would mount 
again. Of course we admired his courage, and had 
excuses enough for the accident, which might have 
happened to any one. After a good deal of frisking 
and rubbing and brushing he mounted again, when the 
animal set off at increased speed. Once, twice, thrice, 
he went round tlie circle at a furious rate; then with 
a sudden bound he threw the rough rider from the 
saddle, his head striking with great force against the 
woodwork of the ring. He was picked up seriously 
stunned. Whisky was brought, and sundry applica- 
tions internally as well as externally soon restored him 
to consciousness and sound healtli. A dollar rewarded 
him for the exhibition he had given us of his horse- 
manship ; but he was vain of his skill, and " would 
like to show us gentlemen that he was not the man to 
give in to a 'oss like that un.'' We invited him to 
come the next day and give us a second lesson, and he 
promised to do so. lie took his departure soon after, 
and that was the last we saw of her Majesty's rough 
rider. 



CHAPTER X. 



MUSTERING IN. 



The middle of July was come, and tlie War Depart- 
ment lias changed its policy, so far as it respected cav- 
alry. I have already described how opposed it was to 
the employment of cavalry when the war began. It 
now seemed more than impatient to get cavalry regi- 
ments organized and sent forward. We received des- 
patch after despatch from tlie Secretary of War, from 
General Scott, and other high officials, urging the ne- 
cessity of filling up our regimeut " at once," and send- 
ing it forward. It was a weakness of the War Depart- 
ment at that time to do its business with bankrupt 
editors, speculators with doubtful antecedents, and 
ambitious keepers of hotels. The despatclies sent were 
not directed to the colonel of the regiment, but to Mr. 
Clarke, Mr. Stetson, (Astor House,) and others ; sliow- 
ing either that there was a very confused state of 
things in the Adjutant GeneraFs office, or that Mr. 
Cameron preferred to do tlie military business of the 
nation througli his political friends. 

McDowell was at tliis time preparing, or trying to 



86 THE STORY QF A TROOPKR. 

prepare, his militia troops for a grand dasli on the 
enemy at Manassas. He said, or some one had said 
for him, for it was current in Washington at the time, 
tliat he had not a caralry officer upon whom he could 
rely to make a proper reconnoissance of tlie enemy's 
position. The War Department may have had some 
knowledge of this, which may account for its sudden 
waking up to the fact that there existed a necessity it 
had not before discovered. This haste on the part of 
the Government, however, had a good effect on our 
officers, and excited them to renewed efforts to fill their 
companies, each rivalling the other to get mustered in 
first. According to orders from the War Department, 
companies could not be mustered in until tliey were 
full. This policy cost us^a great many men, who, im- 
patient to get into the field, would stray away and join 
regiments just leaving. 

Through the exertions of Ogle, Bailey, and Jones, 
Company A was nearly full. Todd was encouraging 
his recruits with a few dollars each, and being popular 
witli his men was nearly ready to muster in. Harkins 
wanted but a few men to complete his number, and 
Stearns and Hidden, both ready to help a friend when 
he needed, had got a large number of men enrolled. 
Some of the officers looked on Stearns' men with a long- 
ing eye, and would occasionally send an old soldier into 
their ranks with a view to making tliem comrades in 
his own company. And this the old soldier generally 
did with a few glasses of whisky and a dollar or two. 
Tlicse little raids were conducted in perfect good na- 
ture, and as the sweet spirit of love ruled paramount in 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 87 

Steam's character he was generally selected as tlio suIj- 
ject of them. 

About this time, a little, boyish and beardless man of 
the name of Bennett, brought a company down from 
Syracuse, where he had raised it. I doubt if Syracuse 
will ever sufficiently repay Captain Bennett for reliev- 
ing her of this motly collection of men, many of whom 
must have been a terror to the place. The question 
was frequently asked wliere this young, innocent look- 
ing man, who dressed with scrupulous care, had picked 
up such a combination of human nature in its lowest 
form. Hogarth could not have drawn a better cartoon 
of human depravity, as pictured in the faces of these 
men. There was tlie model Bowery boy, as we used to 
see him twenty years ago, with his oily head, his expan- 
sive garments, and his love for brass buttons. There 
was the thick-framed and bullet-headed shoulder hitter, 
ready always to settle a private quarrel with friend or 
foe. There too was the wild, ungovernable youth, the 
misfortune of his parents, who were glad to get him 
into the army, as a fit place to reform his morals. 
These men seemed never witliout a quarrel. Indeed 
the company enjoyed a perpetual state of war, and 
when its members were not fighting among tliemselves, 
which was seldom, they were disturbing the peace of 
the neighborhood. Their officers had no control over 
them, and an attempt to enforce discipline enjoined 
a risk they were not willing to undertake. Indeed tlie 
officers were inclined to treat their men on those terms 
of equality common among men in a country town, but 
which cannot ))c carried into tlic army witliout des- 



88 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

troying discipline. And here let me say tliat I Lave 
freqnently noticed that the class of men I have just 
described are rarely to be depended on in battle. 

Captain Plarkins was the first to fill his company, 
and after the excitement incident to the election of offi- 
cers, which in many cases was a mere matter of form, 
the men were marched to the arsenal in Centre street, 
and the process of mustering in gone through. With 
some men mustering in is a test of courage. The timid 
see in it a solemn obligation to serve the country as a 
soldier for a term of years, to submit to all the rigors 
of martial law, to undergo all the vexations and hard- 
ships of camp life, to face death in battle, and what is 
more trying to the patriotic spirit of every honest sol- 
dier, to submit tamely to the tyranny and insults of 
officers unfit, as well by birth as education, to be their 
superiors. Many a man, anxious to do his part in put- 
ting down the rebellion, ponders these things over in 
his mind until fear gains the victory, and he falls out, 
unwilling to take the oath that is to make him a sol- 
dier. Instances of this kind occurred when our first 
company was being mustered in. Several who had 
mar died in the ranks to the arsenal, dropped out before 
tlie oatli was administered, and at one time it was 
doubtful if we should get the requisite number. The 
company however was mustered in without a man to 
spare. And then there was great cheering, great 
shaking of hands among the men, and exchange of con- 
gratulations between officers. Major General com- 
manding a corps never felt prouder than did Harkins 
as he walked up and down in front of the men he said 



THE STORY or A TROOPER. 89 

lie was to lead in battle, addressing tlicm words ofcn- 
conragement. This was to be a new pliase in his life. 
The stage was a new one to him, nnd the part he had 
to ])lay was strange and novel. Company B, Captain 
Todd, was next to muster in, and presented a fine ap- 
pearance, for it was composed of men of a superior 
class. The companies, as fast as mustered in and pro- 
vided with tents, were sent to camp in the breezy shades 
of Elm Park, to which the tents of our German com- 
panies had already given a picturesque and martial 
look. We had great trouble in getting the company 
of plug ruffians from Syracuse mustered in. Some of 
them left, or strayed away, as soon as they reached 
New York, and it was with great difficulty respectable 
recruits could be got to take their places. Day after 
day the mustering officer Avas summoned, and as often 
had to go away disappointed. Some of them would be 
away enjoying a fight with a friend, others might have 
been found at some bar-room, disabled by the too free 
use of whisky. At length, through the influence and supe- 
rior energy of one Sergeant McCormack, the only man 
that seemed to have any control over them, the requis- 
ite number was got, and they were mustered and sent 
to camp, much to the relief of the neighborhood and 
every one about headquarters. 

Stearns and Hidden, between whom there existed 
feelings that had grown and ripened into the truest 
friendship, had generously given their men to assist 
otliers in filling up their com])anics, and neglected 
themselves. They were now without men enough to 
muster in, and how to obtain them was a very difficult 



90 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

problem to solve. Some of tlie means wc liad to resort 
to at times to get a man or two in order to make up 
the number required by tlie regulations were really of 
the meanest kind, although they afforded us some amuse- 
ment. In one case, where it was found that we only 
lacked two men to fill up a company, a sergeant and 
two men (old soldiers) went out on a raid, and soon 
returned with a smutty blacksmith, to whom they had 
given five dollars to come and be mustered in for a sol- 
dier. Tliis was given him with the assurance that as 
soon as mustered in he might go free. But the black- 
smith was suspicious that we were setting a trap for 
him, exhibited much uneasiness during the process of 
being made a soldier, and was quick to take his depar- 
ture as soon as the ceremony was over. The raiders 
also made forcible seizure of a poor inoffensive looking 
baker, on his way to his master's customers with a bas- 
ket of loaves. The poor baker was frightened out of 
his wits, and lustily pleaded the necessity of getting 
bread to his master's customers in time for dinner. He 
was told tliat he would get five dollars to come and be 
sworn in for a soldier, after that he might go where he 
pleased. But he was not inclined to understand this 
way of making a bargain. He declared he did not 
want to go for a soldier, was indeed a poor but honest 
man, had a family of small children with stomachs to 
fill, and would never get absolution if he took an oath 
he did not intend to respect. The absolution seemed 
to trouble him most. But tlie sergeant and his com- 
rades wei*c insensible io these appeals, and while one 
took charge of his basket of loaves, the others brought 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 91 

liim b}^ force into tlic building, where they threatened 
to hang him unless he consented to be sworn in for a 
troo})er. The poor fellow consented at last, though in 
great fear that this was only a plan to deprive him of 
his liberty. Indeed it was with great difficulty he could 
be kept from breaking away during the ceremony of 
mustering in. When it was over he was given the live 
dollars, and speedily went about his business, declaring 
by the saints he never would be caught in such a scrape 
again. Many amusing incidents of this kind might be 
related, showing to what straits we were at times put 
to get one or two men to fill up a company. 

And now the time had come for mustering in Com- 
pany A, about which the big politician had caused us 
so much delay and trouble. We had seen nothing of 
either him or the melancholy man in black for several 
days, and fears were entertained, not that they had 
taken final leave of us, but that they had carried off 
the little bugler for some selfish purpose. It was very 
well understood that no man could blow his own trum- 
pet better than the big politician, and what need the 
melancholy man in black could have for the little bu- 
gler, unless it was to carry his weighty sabre, none of 
us could tell. Nor could we understand the remark- 
able and deep sympathy existing between the melan- 
choly man and the big politician, for while the latter 
was a man of huge stomach and small brain, a Falstaff 
in vanity, and exceedingly illiterate, the former was a 
man of cultivated tastes. Indeed he was something of 
an artist, as well as a poet, and was given to writing 
sonnets to ladies, and painting flowers for their albums. 



92 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

Just as llic company was about to proceed to llio 
election of officers, we were all surprised to see tlieliig 
politician come tramping into the circle in all his 
magnificence, followed by the melancholy man in black 
and tlie little shark-mouthed bugler. He stood expand- 
ing himself for a few minutes, then began circulating 
among and conversing with the men. One or two of 
them assured him he ^vas immensely popular with every 
man in tlie company, and would undoubtedly be elected 
their captain. This gave him encouragement. He was 
sure tliey could not desire a more warlike leader. And 
lie warned them not to forget how great a responsibility 
tliey were about to assume, and how necessary it was 
that they elect men of first rate military talent and 
gentlemen for officers. Such qualities, he was proud 
to say, he had been told he possessed. But that was 
neither here nor there ; he had seen service in Mexico, 
and liad a good record, notwithstanding some evil- 
minded persons (and he always loved his enemies) had 
said they could not find it. 

Now the men of this company were remarkable for 
their intelligence, and received what, the big politician 
said as a very good offset to the joke they were attempt- 
ing to play on him. Indeed they induced him to write 
a vote for every man, to whom he gave particular in- 
structions what to do with it. But, to the great sur- 
prise of all those not in the secret, when the votes 
came to be opened and counted they were all for Ogle, 
who was proclaimed captain with loud cheers. The 
big politician affected not to understand this ; thought 
the men must have made a mistake, shook his head, and 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER, 93 

at last intimated that lie would go where first rate mili- 
tary talent was in better demand. " Hard, hard," ho 
said, running his fingers through his bushy hair, " that 
wlien a man is brave he can't have a chance to show 
it.'' Some of the men expressed great sympathy for 
him. One hoped to meet him on the battle-field. An- 
other intended to vote for him, and it was through a 
mistake that he did not. A third declared him fit for 
a Brigadier General. A fourth knew he would get the 
stars if the authorities at Washington only knew as 
much of him as we did. He had a bow for every one 
of these compliments. There he stood for some time 
frisking his fingers through his shaggy hair, and hint- 
ing that the time would come when first rate military 
talent would be appreciated. Again he took his de- 
parture, followed by the melancholy man, who, at that 
time, was always to be found in his shadow. 

We had now nine companies mustered in ; eight in 
New York and one under Captain Boyd, in Pliiladel- 
phia. And I must here say that Captain Boyd was 
making great eflorts to be the first company of volun- 
teer cavalry in the field. 



CHAPTER XI. 



BULL RUN. 

At tlic time these pleasant and somewhat amusing 
scenes were being ])erformed in New York, (say from 
July 17th to July 23d, 1861) others of more terrible 
importance to the nation were being enacted on the 
plains of Manassas. The first battle of Bull Run, if 
indeed it rises to the dignity of a battle, had been 
fought with most disastrous results to the nation's 
honor and arms. The nation's brain was reeling under 
the burden of its conceits when this battle was fought, 
and the political folly that assumed to control the ac- 
tion of our army was clearly illustrated in the result. 
An army of thirty thousand men, composed chiefly of 
undisciplined militia, good enough for ornaments in 
fair weather, but not to be depended on as fighting 
soldiers, badly officered and indifferently equipped, 
vain of its own strength and yet so weak that it was 
ready to crumble to pieces under tlie first shock of 
battle, marched forth with great pomp and circumstance, 
confident of its ability to crush an army equal in num- 
bers, holding positions of great strength, and whose 



THE STORY 0¥ A TROOPER, 95 

power ill earnestness and courage our rulers at Wash- 
iii^^ton bad not thought it worth while to consider. 
There were those wlio expressed great surprise that 
tin's thing of show and glitter, of such great cost to the 
people who had fondled it as a child fondles a new toy, 
should haye been beaten. But there was really nothing 
in it to be surprised at. Folly always pays such pen- 
alties for its crimes. What, indeed, was to have been 
expected of an army in which whole regiments, on the 
eve of a battle in which their country's honor was to 
be staked, refused to obey orders and asserted their 
right to return home because their last day of enlist- 
ment was come? In other regiments officers were 
encouraging a spirit of insubordination among their 
men because of some fancied default in rations on the 
part of Government. And, too, there were regiments 
that broke up and scattered at the firing of the first 
gun. One regiment was so ready to exchange its honor 
and the honor of the country for its own safety, as to 
march off the field with the echoes of the enemy's guns 
sounding in its ears. In a word, there were far too 
many in the ranks of this showy army who considered 
themselves the superiors of their officers, and who were 
always ready to make personal considerations an ex- 
cuse for their bad actions. To hold a general respon- 
sible for the acts of such an army is to insist that he 
shall do what is beyond the power of man. 

While, however, other nations regarded war as the 
greatest scourge they could be inflicted Avith, and re- 
quiring their most serious attention, our people had 
felt none of the horrors incident to it, and were inclined 



96 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

to treat it in the liglit of a novelty ; sometliing out of 
which money was to be got, and profit made by tlie 
excitement it was to keep the country in while it lasted. 
This truth finds an apt illustration in the conduct of 
that immense rear guard of civilians of all classes that 
swarmed over the hills and spread over the fields of 
Fairfax county ; that followed and blocked up the 
roads in the rear of the army, and made itself joyous 
with the hope of being an amused spectator at a slaugh- 
ter of human beings. There, mingling in that strange 
mob, were grave Senators and common excitement 
seekers. Congressmen and gamblers, political char- 
letans and the professional gentleman common to Wash- 
ington, the writer, the actor, and the artist, the woman 
of chaste virtue and the painted harlot. Light-hearted 
and giddy-headed, the anxiety with which each pressed 
forward to be at the scene of battle first, reminded one 
of the Romans of other days, when they went to a 
fight between wild beasts, or the English of to-day as 
they fill the roads on their way to the Derby races. 
And then there was to be a feast after the fight, and 
such as could carried Avith them abundant luxuries to 
spread the banquet tables. These scenes, whicli every 
serious thinker contemplates with a feeling of sadness, 
did no credit to either the heads or hearts of those who 
participated in them. They were there as excitement 
seekers, and nothing else ; they were there hoping, to 
find enjoyment in the most savage scenes human inge- 
nuity can devise. But the injury did not stop here. 
It interfered Avith and confused the action of the army, 
excited the fears of the timid, and greatly increased 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 97 

tlie inngiiihide of our disasters when we retreated. 
The wonder is that such an army, surroitnded by so 
many bad elements, commanded by a general it soon 
saw was unequal to tlie. position, and fighting under 
such adverse circumstances, should not have been 
thrown into disorder and panic sooner. 

Let us turn now and look at the southern army as it 
app.eared on the day of battle. A lower state of civil- 
ization ruled in the ranks of that arniy; but candor 
compels us to admit that it was better officered and 
more capable of effective handling than ours. These 
were, indeed, essential advantages in tlie figliting ma- 
terial of our army. And then the officers of that army 
were stern, earnest, and resolved. We cannot deny 
many of them the claim that they believed they were 
there to fight for principles as dear to them as liberty 
itself. It was our error not to place a proper value 
upon this stern earnestness of the South when the war 
began. And, too, the men composing the rank and file 
of the southern army Avere stimulated to action by the 
firm belief that they were fighting for their liomes and 
all that is dear to home. That belief had increased 
into a fanaticism more terrible and dangerous than 
tliat which at tlie North had driven our rulers at 
Wasliington to send an army into the field to fight 
before it was ready. 

Nor must it be forgotten that the institution of slav- 
ery had done its part in making these men fierce 
fanatics and formidable in war. The institution re- 
quired a severe discipline for its proper regulation ; 
tuid the enforcement of that discipline had its effect in 
5 



98 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

steeling the hearts of the lower classes against suffering 
and torture. It made the ignorant white man brutal, 
and yet subservient to the intelligent and rich. It 
accustomed men to the use of arms, made them vigilant, 
reckless of human life, savage in dealing with the weak, 
and quick to put their courage to the test, if only for 
effect. Among the ruling classes slavery begat a spirit of 
command and feeling of superiority. The man w.ho 
had been reared and educated among, and indeed all 
his life witnessed the utter al)jectness of his slaves, 
whose word was law, and who felt that he was to be 
promptly obeyed in everything, was not to blame for 
considering himself a superior being, born to command. 
Southern society, too, had constituted itself a tribunal 
for the test of courage, and these tests, so frequently 
applied between gentlemen, engendered elements of 
character which, however much to be admired when 
under proper control, became fierce and warlike when 
aroused. It was the southern man's worst error that 
he carried this spirit of command and feeling of supe- 
riority out into the world with him, and in his haste to 
exercise them offensively over his equals, made enemies 
where he needed friends. These elements of character, 
however dangerous and to be deprecated in private 
life, were just what were required to make an army 
fierce and formidable. Our army had all these quali- 
ties to acquire through training and experience in the 
field. The northern man had also done much to in- 
crease the southern man's belief that he was much his 
superior in courage. And this belief, with its joint 
value in war, the southern mail brouglit into the field 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 99 

with him. Was it then matter for surprise that these 
armies, brought together under such circumstances, 
should have produced the result they did ? The very 
savageness with which some of the southern regiments 
fought cast a feeling of terror into the ranks of our 
more undisciplined troops. Nor had the battle pro- 
ceeded far when it became evident to both the officers 
and men of our army, that the southern troops were 
being handled with superior skill ; that our general, 
if he had a definite plan, was taking no proper meas- 
ures to carry it out. Some regifhents were fighting 
without orders, and in confusion ; batteries that lost 
their positions had no one to tell them where to take 
new ones ; regiments that ought to have been active in 
the fight stood looking on ; and the reserve stood 
waiting for orders it never received. All these things 
combined to excite the fears of our men, and once this 
fear broke into a panic, control was beyond human 
power. Soldiers and civilians became mingled in the 
confused and terrified mass, made more desperate in its 
struggle for safety by the shadows of a few cavalry-men 
the infantry had turned its back upon. The broad 
landscape now became dark with this terror-stricken 
mob, rushing back in wild disorder upon Washington, to 
alarm the country with a thousand stories of blood and 
savagery, and make tlie Government feel itself a mere 
child. General McDowell returned to Washington a 
forlorn soldier without an army. His army, if an army 
it might have been called, had got there before him, a 
disordered mob, scattered through the streets of a 



100 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

capital it had left at the mercy of an eneni}^ ignorant 
that its gates had been tlirown wide open to him. 

I have searclicd in vain through most tliat has been 
written on this battle for an intelligent analysis of the 
canse of the panic that seized on our troops. General 
Baruard says" we should have undoubtedly gained a 
victory but for the panic that seized on our troops ;" 
and Doctor Bellows, an equally profound authority on 
military philosophy, says, " I am told that we really 
gained the victory, but threw it away on our fears." I 
have no doubt that teoth these wise conclusions will be 
fully appreciated by an intelligent people. Every mil- 
itary man of observation knows that fear and its effects 
have much to do in deciding battles. But when fear 
in an army degenerates into a panic, the cause must be 
looked for in its discipline and generalship. Some 
writer has said fear was the great quicksand of the 
Imman breast, but no one could tell where and when 
its sands were going to sliift. It certainly makes 
children of timid men ; and it even disfigures the ac- 
tions, at times, of tlie brave. Shall we, then, a natu- 
rally brave people, credit to fear our first great misfor- 
tune on tlie plains of Manassas? We ought, I think, 
to look for it in the cliaracter of our generals. 

Still, out of this great misfortune tliere came good. 
It taught us to distinguisli between the value of a fair 
weather and a fighting soldier. It exposed tlie worth- 
lessness of our conceits and reformed tlie ideas of the 
nation, if not the Government, as to what really con- 
stituted an effective army. It ouglit, also, to have 
opened the blind eyes of the Government to the real 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 101 

value of military experience iu conducting a war. But 
'it did not. The dainty fingers of tlie men who had 
been most active in producing this disaster — in urging 
an army to figlit before it was ready, were still per- 
mitted to meddle with the business of generals, and to 
work mischief for our cause. These men wanted to 
reverse tlie old standard rule of war, and place the 
reformer in advance of the soldier. Who is there 
to-day that can tell us what their attempts to make 
experiment take the place of reason lias cost the nation 
in blood and treasure ? 



CHAPTER XII 



IN CABIP. 

Our little town under canvas, as it nestled among 
tlie deep green foliage and under the breezy shades of 
the tall trees of Elm Park, was fast filling up with a 
strange mixture of people. It began, too, to put on 
a busy and military air. The Germans and Americans 
had drawn well defined lines of distinction, and indeed 
pitched their tents on separate ground. There were 
Austrians, Prussians, Poles, and Hungarians composing 
tlie former, and, as a natural result, there was at times 
some bad blood manifested between " the nationalities.'' 
The Irish and Scotch joined the American companies, 
the former always being ready for a fight with "the 
Dutchmen," as they called the Germans. Now and 
then they amused us with a little tongue fight across 
the street, in which sundry challenges would be sent 
and returned; an Irishman offering to bet a bottle of 
whisky — of which dangerous fluid he had taken a little 
too much — that he could whip six Dutchmen; or a Ger- 
man offering to bet a keg of lager that he could whip 
ten Irishmen before eatings his supper. Sometimes 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 103 

tliese tongue battles ended with an Irishman and a 
'Dutchman being sent to the guard-house to keep com- 
pany and cultivate more friendly relations. Not un- 
frequently these quarrels were in pantomime of the 
fiercest description, one party not understanding a 
word of what tlie other said. 

This camp life has its quaint lights and shades. It 
develops and brings boldly out all the good and bad 
qualities of men — all their virtues and their vices. 
Here the gentle and generous nature performs its mis- 
sion of good for others. Here the firm will and the stout 
heart of the physically weak rise superior and assert 
their dignity over the man of coarse nature. Strange 
associations are formed in camp ; warm, sincere, and 
enduring friendships spring up between men, and will 
be remembered and clierished through life. Charity 
takes a broader range in camp, heart meets heart in 
all its longings; strangers from a distance meet to be- 
come friends and brothers; tent shares its bread audits 
bottle with tent next door, and the faults and follies of 
men are judged in a more generous and Christian 
spirit tlian that whicli rules in higher places. Here 
every man tells tlie story of his life's love and disap- 
pointment. Here, over a pipe, after taps, tlie man who 
has roamed over the world in search of fortune, re- 
lates his strange adventures to his listening compan- 
ions, whose sympathies he touches and wliose bounty 
he is sure to share, for the world's unfortunates always 
find a warm friend in the true soldier. In camp, as our 
army is composed, rich and poor meet in the ranks as 
equals, and the educated and the ignorant fnid shelter 



104 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

under one tent. They are here as brothers, enlisted 
for a common pnrpose, to stand shoulder to shoulder 
against a fierce enemy, and light to presei-ve tlie very 
life of their country. And tlie arm finds strength when 
sure that true friends are near. 

We had reached that stage wlicn the realities of a 
soldier's life, and Avhat was before ns during the three 
years of our enlistment, became subjects of conversa- 
tion, "What dangers we would have to share, wliat 
hardships we should have to undergo, Avhat scenes of 
blood to witness, and perhaps participate in ; how 
many of us would fall in battle, or die of disease and 
neglect ; how many of us would return to recount in 
pleasant homes all the vicissitudes of war our regiment 
had passed through, were subjects of contemplation ns 
well as conversation. These subjects, too, were much 
enlarged by the old soldiers, who found apparent de- 
liofht in exciting' the fears of the timid and hesitating. 

Love also had leaped the gates of our camp, and we 
had more than one case where the tender passion was 
yielding to the charm of Mars. Every fine afternoon a 
pretty, elastic-stepping girl of eighteen used to come 
tripping over the lawn, her black braided hair arranged 
in sucli beautiful folds, and her eyes beaming witli love 
and tenderness, to see one of our handsome captains. 
We had several, and they were just out in bright new 
uniforms, which gave them quite a soldierly appear- 
ance. The otlier captains envied this one tlie beautiful 
captive he was soon, as report had it, to carry off. He 
would meet her half way down the lawn, and tliere 
was something for a bachelor to envy in the sweet 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 105 

smile that played over lier pale oval face as the distance 
slrortened between them. Then there was tlie warm, 
heart}^ shake of tlie hand; he had a sly but honest way of 
imprinting a kiss on lier peachy cheek. And there were 
other little love tokens so tenderly expressed that it 
needed only a glance to read in them how truly heart was 
speaking to heart. She would always bring him some 
little present. Then they would stroll together to the 
tent door, and sit talking their heart secrets until some 
duty called him away. I have seen her sit working 
some piece of worsted for him, her soft eyes looking 
up lovingly in his face as his hand stole under her 
shawl and almost unconsciously around her waist. 
And then he bid her such an envied good-by as he 
left her at the gate, and waved his handkercliief as she 
turned half w^ay down tlie lane to toss a last fond 
adieu for the night. This was the high noon of their 
love dream, and Heaven was sweetening the encliant- 
nient with the perfume of flowei's. 

And there was a pretty blue-eyed blonde, with 
round, clierub-like face, and curls the breeze used to 
play with as she came tripping w4th such artless gaiety 
down the lawn to see one of our dashing lieutenants. 
Her tight-fitting bodice, cut after tlie fasliion of a habit, 
gave a bewitching roundness to her form ; and there 
was something so childish, so artless in her manners 
that it seemed as if Heaven had blessed her witii the 
sweetest of natures. We called her the June flower of 
our camp, and gave her a hearty welcome, for her 
presence was like bright sunshine after a dark storm. 
She brought the young lieutenant flowers, put his tent 



106 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

in order, and rollicked about with the air of a girl 
just from school. And the young lieutenant was so 
proud of her, patted her so gently on tlie slioulder, and 
spoke in such tones of kindness. And when they 
parted, I could see tliat a feeling of sadness invaded 
her light lieart, for a tear would brighten like a diamond 
in her blue eyes, and then write the story of her love 
down her cheeks as she went away. 

Our camp at times would also be enlivened by an aged, 
leather-faced woman in big spectacles. Armed with a 
bundle of tracts she would distribute them among us; 
tell us what the Lord was doing for us, and how we 
would need his help in battle, and must pray to Him, 
and read the tract before we slept. This aged lady 
was in no very high favor with our parson, (we had 
got both a parson and a doctor,) who regarded her 
efforts as an infringement of his riglit to get us all 
made Christians in his own way. Nor did the doctor 
and the parson quite agree as to the best way to save the 
souls of soldiers. Indeed, they too often had tlieir lit- 
tle differences as to what sort of medicine would best 
improve the spiritual and physical condition of tlie 
men. But the doctor generally got the best of it, for 
he was active and skillful, and what was more, gained 
favor with the men by setting them good examples, 
while the parson, eloquent enough in speech and prayer, 
was weak in the flesh, and so given to the bottle as to 
become its slave. 

Love also had its votaries among our German compan- 
ions across the road. A little frisky Dutch woman, witli 
a bright bulo;ing forehead, ^nd a face like an over-fed 



THE STORY OF A TROOPEU. 107 

doll, and dressed in pink and blue, would come of an 
afternoon to see little Bob the liglit-liorseman. Bob 
was now a lieutenant, bad a tender and generous lieart, 
and never went into a neigliborliood witliont falling in 
love with all tlie small women in it. There was no 
happier being in this world tlian Bob when the little 
frisky Dutcli woman sat at his side in front of his tent, 
with empty beer kegs for seats. She always brought 
something good for Bob, which tliey enjoyed with the 
addition of a bottle of Rhine wine. The captains, too, 
had their jolly buxom wives, who came and spent the 
day, setting their Inisbands' tents in order, preparing 
good dinners, and adding an air of cheerfulness to the 
camp. Indeed our German side of the camp seemed to 
be in favor with the women, wlio brought abundance 
of good cliecr to their friends. 

Notwithstanding tlie pleasant scenes I have described 
above, they were at times marred witli acts wliich told 
us how much bad ])lood liad been stirred up by some 
one between the Germans and Americans. That there 
sliould have been any bad feeling between us was a 
misfortune, and arose solely from a misunderstanding 
as to the tem|)er and intentions of the Americans to- 
wards the Germans. This misunderstanding was 
caused by the bad influence of one man. Indeed, the 
Americans were kindly disposed towards the Germnns, 
and ready to give them credit for more knowledge of 
cavalry, and better skill as soldiers. In trutli, all that 
was required to make us good friends was a better 
knowledge one of the other, and the exercise of a con- 
ciliatory spirit. And these followed when we had 



108 THE STORY OF A TROOPEll. 

been a sliort time in the field, and formed a better ac- 
quaintance. In trutli, the time came when American 
officers were so mncli in favor with the men of tlie Ger- 
man companies tliat they were pleased wlien placed 
imder their command. This was no doubt owing to 
the fact that American officers were more tolerant and 
less severe with tlieir men than the Germans. Indeed, 
I have noticed in regiments made np chiefly of Ger- 
mans that there was no very good fecliDg existing be- 
tween the men and their officers. 

It becomes now my duty to record the lirst appear- 
ance of a battle. The morning of the 28th of July was 
wai'm and sunny. It was nearly noon when the calm 
of our camp was suddenly broken by signs of war. 
The hotel near by was the scene of great commotion. 
Somebody had insulted somebody. Angry words had 
been exchanged for blows. The slumbering unity of 
tlie nationalities had become disturbed, and it seemed 
as if satisfaction was to be got only through the sabre 
and pistol. The commotion which began at the hotel, 
soon spread to our camp, and officers and men were 
only too ready to take part in it. Men did not stop 
to think, wliile the report ran with lightning speed 
that there was a fight between the Germans and Amer- 
icans. Officers buckled on their sabres and, grasping 
their pistols, called on their men to form in line. The 
little bugler, who had been roaming here and there in 
search of some one to give him an order, raised his 
liorn and blew what sounded very like "boots and sad- 
dles." Tlien lie seized a ])ig knife in one hand, and with 
his bugle in the otlier, took i)oSition at the riglit of Com- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 109 

pnny A . The fat Dutch bugler Avas not to be oiitcloDe by 
the little bugler, and raising his lioi n blew a most dis- 
cordant strain, sending tlie ruddy faced Dutch women 
screaming to the tents of their husbands and sweet- 
hearts. Men armed themselves at this signal, some 
witli sticks and clubs, otliers with rusty old sabres, 
crooked as reaping hooks, and of so strange a pattern 
that one of our officers declared they must have been 
used in the wars of the Assyrians who had bequeathed 
them to the ancestors of the Union Defense Committee, 
which loaned them to us svith an injunction that we were 
not to take them to the field. The German officers 
seemed to have little control over their men, who turned 
out in great confusion, talked loudly, and threatened 
to do an immense deal of harm. Several times they 
broke into disorder, and advanced as if to make a sud- 
den and desperate charge; and as many times they halted, 
as if to exhaust their courage in loud and fierce denun- 
ciation. The American companies were not to be 
daunted by loud talk, and stood firm, and with solid 
ranks, ready to receive the attack. German offi- 
cers began expostulating with American officers, but 
as one could not understand a word the other said, the 
more they attempted to reconcile matters the more ex- 
citement tliey made among the men, wlio began to be- 
lieve tlie trouble was to result in a figlit between their 
officers. There was every sign now that blood would 
be shed, and the peace of the camp seriously dis- 
turbed. 

Our little bugler blew another blast of his liorn, and 
the officers told their men to stand firm, and tlie fat 



110 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

Dutch bugler answered willi a slirill blast from his 
horn. This was followed by a sudden movement on 
the German side of the field, as if a real charge was to 
be made. Two lucky circumstances occurred just at 
this moment, and to these circumstances I am in- 
debted for not having to record what might have 
been one of the bloodiest battles in the history of 
this war. Little Bob, the light-horseman, with com- 
mendable courage, threw himself, with drawn sabre, 
among his countrymen and pleaded for peace. And 
just as he did this our colonel appeared on the 
field, and his presence was the signal for a stay 
of hostilities. Great effort was now made to get at 
the cause of the misunderstanding, to do which required 
the exercise of a good deal of patience. First the men 
were sent to their tents, to which they went with some 
reluctance. Then such of the ofiicers as were most in- 
clined to peace met in council, and after much and pa- 
tient research, discovered what the cause of the trouble 
was, and likewise came to an agreement as to the sat- 
isfactix)n. It seems tlmt a German had said or done 
something whereby the wife of one of our officers, a 
lady of very sensitive feelings, considered herself in- 
sulted. The husband came forward as the guardian of 
his wife's honor, as was natural enough, and threatened? 
or really did, chastise the offender. On this point, 
however, the testimony was somewhat confused ; nor 
did what the little bugler said concerning it help to 
make it a bit clearer ; for although he swore to seeing 
a ''Dutchman struck in the stomach," to use his 
own language, he was of opinion the blow came from 
'' another Dutchman,'' and not from llie ladv's husband. 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. Ill 

It was now agreed for the Germans, on the first part, 
and the Americans, on the second, that the oGfender or 
offenders when found should be sent to the guard-honse 
for two days on sliort rations ; that they shouhl be 
reprimanded and advised not to do so again. Now, as 
these terms were accepted as satisfactory, the husband 
regained his usual good nature, and the lady ceased 
weeping, and indeed spent the rest of the day in an in- 
nocent flirtation. As to tlie officers they spent the rest 
of the day over such good cheer as tlieir friends had 
provided, thankful that they had escaped without a scar. 

We were not, however, to leave Elm Park without 
a real fight; and the shedding of some blood. Tues- 
day, the 4tli of August, witnessed a scene more serious 
in its results. At another point of the same park there 
was encamped the nucleus of a cavalry regiment, call- 
ing itself the " Lincoln Greens," which seemed like an 
attempt to steal tlie name of our regiment. These 
" Greens" were made up chiefly of Austrians, for whom 
the Germans of our reoiment had the bitterest hate. 
There were the Prussians, who regarded them as arro- 
gant cowards ; the Hungarians, who despised tliem in 
their hearts ; and the Poles, who only wanted an op- 
portunity to pay off tlie old national score against 
them. It can readily be seen what a state of feeling 
must have existed between these conflicting elements. 

Tlie " Greens," too, were inclined to fly a high 
feather when speaking of our Germans, This bad feeling 
grew more deep and bitter every day. The men had 
enjoyed little fights between themselves, which their 
ofiQcers had regarded with indifference. 



112 -- THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

About two o'clock of tlie day I have named, several 
pistol shots, in rapid succession, were heard in the vi- 
cinity of the hotel, the scene wliere almost every disturb- 
ance began. Tliese were followed by loud calls for help. 
Then came tlie clashins: of sabres, the heavv blows of 
clubs, and such other weapons as were at liand. A re- 
port spread through the camp like lightning that the 
Germans of the Lincoln Cavalry were fighting with the 
" Lincoln Greens.'' Tlie excitement became general. 
Officers and men seized their weapons and prepared for 
battle. Again the report of pistol shots rang on the 
ear, and word came that one man had been killed and 
two severely wounded. The figliting was on the brow 
of a hill, down which our Germans were being pressed 
slowly, before superior numbers. The American 
officers held their men in restraint, being inclined to 
let the Germans fight it out between themselves, and 
not caring much which got hurt most. Indeed, the 
only Americans much concerned about it were our 
colonel and the little bugler. The first gave orders 
our Germans neither understood nor obeyed, for, hav- 
ing armed themselves with all sorts of weapons, and 
particularly the old sabres of tlie Union Defense Com- 
mittee, rushed up the hill to reinforce their hard- 
pressed comrades ; the second made tlie noise and con- 
fusion more intense by blowing all manner of calls on 
his bugle. And these calls brought out the fat Dutch 
bugler, who blew away until his very face turned 
purple, making a noise that rose high above the clash 
of arms. 

The reinforcements at once look up the fight, which 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 11 3 

became desperate and blood}^, considering the ancient 
cliaractcr of tlie weapons tliey fonglit with. One 
wonnded man after another was carried to a place of 
safety, bleeding. But the Greens were overpowered 
and began to fall back, at first in regular order, tlien 
in considerable confusion. The Germans fought with 
great earnestness, and were not inclined to showmnch 
mercy to their enemies, whose officers had songht safety 
in the kitclien of the hotel. Finally, there was a gen- 
eral rout of the Greens, who fled in disorder across 
the fields towards the park, followed and beaten by 
our infuriated troopers. The Colonel ordered tlie re- 
call sounded ; tlie little bugler ran until he was out of 
breath, mounting one stone wall after another, and 
sounding tlie recall, which eclioed over the fields, un- 
heeded. The fat Dutch bugler was ordered to follow 
and sound the recall, but he was no more successful in 
brino-ino- back the fierce victors than was the little 
bugler. In less than half an hour from the time the 
fight began, not a "Lincoln Green'' was to be seen iu 
the adjacent fields. When our men returned, which 
they did of tlieir own accord, they were cursed by 
their officers for scoundrels, and sent to their tents, to 
which they went willingly enough, knowing that what 
they had done had the secret, if not avowed, approba- 
tion of their superiors. Some of our German officers 
then made a search for the officers of the Lincoln 
Greens, and finding them in their various hiding places, 
cursed them right soundly for cowards who had incited 
their men to these desperate acts, and then refused to 
share in the result. High words passed and blows 



114 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

liad nearly followed, when our parson stepped in as a 
peace maker. And the good efforts of the parson, who 
declared that blood enough liad been shed on the 
Lord's day, and that he would hold service in the after- 
noon, to which he invited them all, were increased by 
the pleadings of two frightened women, sweethearts of 
the Austrian officers, whom they saved from fur- 
ther harm by the profuseness of their tears. The 
result of this terrible battle, fought between the na- 
tionalities, on the friendly soil of Elm Park, and of 
which no account has heretofore been written, were 
three Lincoln Greens wounded, one seriously and two 
slightly. Two men of the Lincoln Cavalry received 
severe cuts. I must not forget to record liere that this 
battle was fought without a general or reporter. 



a 



CHAPTER XIII 



FIRST REAL CAVALRY EIGHT OF THE WAR, WITH OTHER MATTERS. 

On tlie 5 til of August our American companies broke 
camp at Elm Park and moved to Bellevue garden, on 
the East river, leaving our German friends to recon- 
cile matters with their Austrian enemies. It was a 
pleasant breezy spot, this new camp of ours, overlook- 
ing one of the prettiest scenes on the East river, and 
affording good bathing for the men. And we had kind 
and hospitable neighbors, whose families cheered us 
with their little gifts, and did all in their power to 
make our stay comfortable. These little attentions 
have always a good effect on the conduct of the men, 
since by them they are reminded how much they are 
thought of by those whom war does not call to the 
field. 

The question began to be frequently asked why were 
we not off to the field, when there was so much need 
of us there. The fact was we were waiting for the 
tailor. AVe had been supplied with tents, but had not 
received our clothing. And the tailor was not to be 
hurried, though the fate of the nation depended on his 
efforts. The Government had ordered our uniforms 



116 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

made in New York, and tliere Lad been a diiference 
between the tailor and the Post Quartermaster, the 
tailor wanting- a few cents more a snit than the Quar- 
termaster was willing to pay. Hence the delay. In 
f\ict, there is no knowing how much our arms have suf- 
fered by these misunderstandings and banterings over 
a few shillings between exacting tailors and unyielding 
quartei-masters. 

While we were quietly smoking our pipes at liead- 
quarters one morning, news came that the big politician 
had been seen down town in a military cap, and yel- 
low stripes down his breeches. This had a look of 
cavalry in it. Ogle cast a glance at Harkins ; Stearns 
exchanged a sad expression of face with Hidden ; 
Harry turned to Bailey, and shaking his head, said : 
"If there is any manhood left in the fellow, he won't 
make anotlier attempt to get into this regiment.'' 

" He will," said the man who brouo^ht the news. 
" He is doing it now. He 1ms got authority from the 
Colonel to raise a company of Germans for this regi- 
ment, and as he won't understand a word they say, 
much happiness may he have with them. And I can 
tell you this, too," continued the man, knowingly, " he 
is raising money from citizens to pay his I'ecruiting 
expenses." 

" Money ! " interrupted one of the company, '' why, 
where is the fortune he has been boasting about ? Like 
his common sense, we have not seen the color of it yet." 

The news was indeed true, and cast a feeling of sad- 
ness over the Camp, since it foreshadowed the fact that 
a man was to be forced upon us whose presence in the 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 117 

regiment was sure to keep it in perpetual trouble. 
Tbat a man so A^ery unacceptable to the Americans, 
and wlio liad been rejected by them, should liave been 
authorized to raise a company of men whose language 
lie could not speak, sliowed us too plainly that some 
grave wrong was to be perpetrated. Now, tlicre was 
among the Germans a man of the name of Gustave 
Otto, a Quixotic sort of person, wlio had dashed about 
in a gay uniform, big s[)urs, and a dangling sabre, and 
otherwise assumed the migjity man of war. Otto had 
served in the cavalry in Europe, knew something of 
the tactics, and was, so far as looks went, a soldier. 
But he was inclined to be cruel, and had an excessively 
bad temper, which led him into frequent quarrels with 
his fellow-countrymen. He aspired to the captaincy of 
one of the German companies ; but failing to get a 
vote when they were organized, was left outside. In 
truth the men were afraid of him, just as ours were of 
the big politician. These two men now joined fortunes, 
and Avith the addition of the melancholy man, who still 
Avore his black clothes, formed a sort of mutual sym- 
pathy society, for I must here mention that the last 
named gentleman, having failed to get a position in the 
regiment, had taken to writing poetry of a heavy order. 
This trio of forsaken men now held frequent meetings, 
discussed their misfortunes over frothy lager, and were 
joined by the parson, who evinced remarkable sympa- 
thy for them, and Avould share their cups until his mind 
got into a lofty mood. To tell the truth. Father Ruley 
had a free use of blarney when under the influence of 
his cups, and it was seldom he was not. " Faith, gcii- 



118 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

tlemen, there never was such injured men as yourselves 
since the world began. Leave the matter to me, and 
I'll have the three of you generals afore the war's 
over," he would say. But if they found sympathy in 
the parson, they were as thoroughly hated by the doc- 
tor, who was a man of courage, and said wliat he 
thought of them to their faces. I verily believe he 
would have found pleasure in making a pill to send 
them all to the devil, and thus end tlieir mischief. He 
was willing to excuse the parson getting a little tipsey 
at times, but he would have him look better after the 
souls of the men, that being the business the country 
paid him for. 

The authority then to raise this new ''German com- 
pany," was given to Otto and the big politician ; to the 
first, that he miglit have a company to command ; to 
the second, that he should be eligible as quartermaster 
when the regiment was organized, a position he had 
laid siege to with an energy worthy of a better cause. 
Captain Lord and Lieutenant Pendegrast, two gentle- 
men from Ireland, were also authorized to raise a com- 
pany, and were exerting every energy to that end. 

And here I must leave this stale matter for the pres- 
ent, and request the reader to bear me company into 
tlie field beyond Washington, where he shall witness 
the first cavalry figlit of this war, for Captain Tomp- 
kins' charge into Vienna, dashing as it was, could not 
be called a fight. While we were quietly wondering 
and waiting under the breezy shades of Bellevue Gar- 
den and Elm Park — waiting for the tailor, and won- 
dering when we should get orders to proceed to the 



THE STORY Oi' A TROOPER. 110 

field, Captain W. H. Boyd, with an energy worthy of 
all commendation, had filled up his company in Phila- 
delphia ; was mustered in on the 19th of July ; proceeded 
to Washington on the 22d, and in less than ten days 
from that time was mounted and equipped, and doing 
service in the field, scouting the country beyond Fair- 
fax Senvnary. Those who expect me to describe a 
battle, in which fierce charges and counter-charges 
were made, where great skill in the use of the sabre 
was displayed, and hand to hand combats were waged 
for the master}^ ; or, indeed, where any very clever 
horsemanship was to be seen on either side, will be 
disappointed. I am going to describe a cavalry figlit 
just as it was, and just as any sensible man, with the 
slightest knowledge of cavalry, must have known it 
would be, made up, as one side was, of troopers fresh 
from their firesides in Pennsylvania, and to whom war 
was a new business. There were good men in tliis 
company, men not wanting in courage ; but, like all 
other companies and regiments, it had its sliare of men 
who are quick to take alarm at the first sign of danger, 
and, what is worse, to so communicate their alarm to 
others as to make its effect general. Such men as 
these are always seeking to excuse their want of cour- 
age by casting reflections on the competency of their 
commander. It is true, however, that nothing so 
stimulates the courage of soldiers, and especially such 
as are new to the field, as the knowledge that their 
commander is a soldier and competent to take proper 
care of them in a figlit. A fool for an officer will be 
sure to make brave men appear like cowards ; and 



120 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

nothing is so truo as tliat in tbe Army of tlie Potoniac 
we liave had too many fools and knaves at the head of 
regiments of brave men. 

It was early in August that Captain Boyd, with his 
company of gallant troopers, might have been seen 
winding over the liills beyond Fairfax Seminary, leaving 
the Little River turnpike to the left, and heacUng to- 
wards Fairfax Court House. Butler's Big Bethel, and 
Schenck's wonderful display of military science, as 
shown in his charge backward into the enemy's coun- 
try with a locomotive and train filled with soldiers, 
were still fresh in the minds of our men. Masked bat- 
teries and ambuscades were our dread, and Captain 
Boyd very wisely felt his way with great caution. An 
advance guard was out, and flankers were kept con- 
stantly in motion. Every clump of woods ahead was 
regarded asanexcellent larking placefor thcenemyjiow 
made bold by his success at Bull Bun, and wlio had the 
advantage of knowing every foot of the country. These 
clumps of wood were tlie signal given every few min- 
utes for a halt. This done, men Avere sent cautiously 
forward to scour tlie woods, or, in the event of discov- 
ering a force concealed there, to return and report. 
Several of these positions, regarded as extremely dan- 
gerous, were passed in safety, the gallant troopers 
breathing freer when the report came that no enemy 
was near. And I am sure there were no braver troop- 
ers to be found than our boys when they heard the ad- 
vance sounded, and were told that the road ahead was 
clear. Nor must I forget to mention here that the gal- 
lant captain heard only witli one ear. The other, how- 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 121 

ever was particularly sharp, and the quickness with 
-which he lent it to the amusing reports of every negro 
he met in the road was remarkable. If the negro car- 
ried a bundle, and were a fugitive in search of freedom 
and our lines, his appearance was sure to cause a halt. 
In most cases the negro was a prodigy of intelli- 
gence, a perfect index to all rebel secrets, an inti- 
mate acquaintance of Mr. Jefferson Davis, and very 
recently enjoying friendly relations with General Beau- 
regard, who had, while at breakfast one morning, given 
him the exact strength and position of his army. Here 
was a storehouse of valuable knowledge, just what our 
general in command wanted, what the country needed, 
and what the necessities of a free press demanded for 
the entertainment of its readers. The gallant captain 
knowing what a hungry ear the public had for the sto- 
ries of these very reliable colored gentlemen fresh from 
Secessia, would send them as fast as picked up to head- 
quarters. Indeed, he was already becoming famous for 
the amount of this kind of loose wisdom he had secured 
for the benefit of the country. The trouble with this 
person, known subsequently as the " intelligent contra- 
band," was that he knew so much more of the rebel 
army than it was possible for even General Beauregard 
to know, that our generals were astonished rather than 
instructed by the magnitude of what he had to tell. 

If, also, a hapless farmer left his plow and came to 
peer over his gate at the uncommon sight, a halt was 
called, and the farmer made to discover all he knew 
about the country ahead ; how the roads ran, and 
wliere they intersected ; whetlier he had seen any of 
6 ' 



122 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

the enemy, in what force they were, and indeed all lie 
knew concerning the enemy and his movements. And 
this poor hapless man was made to say much he did 
not want to say, and in his fear give such information 
to-day as miglit appear wrong to-morrow. He must 
save his property, and keep his family from starvation ; 
to do which he must be a Union man to-day and a rebel 
to-morrow, just as one force or the other might charge , 
down upon his acres. The rebels will to day tlireaten 
to burn his house down over his head unless he tells 
them all, and in truth more than all, he knows concern- 
ing our movements. To-morrow some Union officer, 
flushed with the great importance of small power, will 
tlireaten to burn his house down unless he discloses all 
the information concerning the enemy in his possession. 
The question recurs to him, what is a poor man to do 
with two such friends ? I can affirm that between them 
both his house is almost sure of being burnt down, and 
his family sent to wander homeless, perhaps among un- 
sympathising enemies. One party would not believe 
him when he told the truth, the other always suspected 
him of knowing much more than he was willing to tell. 
He might to-morrow discover an enemy in the officer 
he had to-day mistaken for a friend. I have come to 
believe that no greater misfortune can befall a man 
than to live on ground separating the fronts of con- 
tending armies during war. Both are sure to want his 
sympathy, to distrust his sincerity, and neither can give 
him permanent protection — the only thing that will 
make him of any real value to either side. The Gov- 
ernment cannot, or will not, give him power to assert 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 123 

his manhood to-day; to-morrow it may make him a mar- 
tyr to events he liad no part in producing. He was 
indeed fortunate if he escaped being made a prisoner, 
and carried off by some young officer, vain of his au- 
thority and in search of promotion. If you Avould 
know the number of these hapless and now homeless 
beings, you may read it on those tall gaunt and black 
piles by the road-sides of Virginia, writing their tales 
of wantonness in clear and sharp lines against the mid- 
night sky. These black remnants of war are no proof 
that treason once had ajiiding place here. They mark 
alike the spots where good Union men, as well as reb- 
els once had happy homes. 

I have wandered somewhat from my subject to show 
how dangerous it was to act upon information picked 
up in the manner here described, and more especially 
at that time. The Government had great faith in the 
"intelligent contraband," and so had the "friends of 
the party ;" but our generals in the field knew that on 
questions of fact he was somewhat like his rebel mas- 
ter, a very uncertain person. Boyd and his company 
of gallant troopers advanced cautiously, exploring the 
country rod by rod, and mile by mile; halting every 
few minutes to pick up information, after the manner 
described above. They had now reached a piece of 
woods, were advancing through it and approaching a 
spot where the road forked and opened into a clear- 
ing. A halt was suddenly made, the flankers closed 
in quickly, and the advance guard was seen returning 
at rapid speed, and making such signs of " danger 
ahead" as spread general alarm among the men. One 



124 THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 

of the advance guard came up, and reported " a large 
army of the enemy '' just ahead and moving down upon 
us. Delivering his report in a hurried and excitable 
manner, the man was about to put spurs to his already 
jaded animal^ and make the best time he could back to 
the Seminary ; but the company, which had been ad- 
vancing by fours, now stood in that position, blocking 
up the road. This, however, only seemed to increase 
his excitement, which had already began to show its 
effect injuriously on a majority of the company. The 
captain hesitated for a minute, as if undecided what 
to do, or what command to give next. Cavalry move- 
ments require quick thought and quick action. Two 
more of the advance guard were seen returning, and 
increasing their speed as they advanced. Seeing the 
captain hesitate, some of the men mistook it for defi- 
ciency of knowledge in the tactics. Now there was 
an old cavalryman in the company, and it was charged 
upon him that he gave the command : •' By fours, left 
about, wheel — forward ! " It matters not who gave 
the command. It is enough to know that the company 
got about in some confusion, and away it went over 
the road towards camp, some trotting, some galloping, 
others having enough to do to keep themselves in the 
saddle and their horses in the road. It flashed sud- 
denly on the mind of the gallant captain, who was not 
wanting in courage, that his men were running away 
before they had seen the enemy, or even tested the 
metal of his sabres. And it was punishment enough 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 125 

that he had to follow them in retreat, instead of leading 
.them against the enemy in a good fight. 

One of the two advance guards I have described as 
seen returning, rode up to him and, luckily for the 
honor of our arms, on the side he was sharp of hearing 
on. " Captain," said the man, " the enemy is not in 
large force. It is a troop of cavalry, not stronger 
tlian we are, if as strong. They are halted. You 

know is short of sight. There is cattle grazing 

near them, and these he mistook for cavalry in re- 
serve." Catching what the man said with remarkable 
quickness, Boyd called his son, a fine young man of 
twenty, and bidding him follow, dashed after his 
troopers, and gaining the head of the now disordered 
column, drew his pistol, and placing himself in an atti- 
tude of resistance, commanded them to lialt or he 
would shoot the first man who disobeyed orders. 
Seeing their captain so determined, they halted and 
formed in order, when he addressed them, appealing to 
their honor as men, to their courage as soldiers. Point- 
ing to his son, he told them he was willing to sacrifice his 
own life and that of his son, rather than have it said 
they were cowards. He had more to lose than they 
had, but if they would stand by him, and go back and 
meet the enemy, he would stand by them. His words 
fell like electricity on the men's feelings. Courage 
now took the place of fear. They cheered and ex- 
pressed their anxiety to be led on to the figlit. Wheel- 
ing by fours they were soon faced about and proceeding 
back at a brisk trot. They soon met the enemy in tlie 
edge of an open ground, when he prepared for action, 



126 THE STOllY OF A TROOPER. 

his force being about equal to ours. The captain 
formed his men in line, advanced until he got within car- 
bine range, and then made a sudden dasli upon the enemy, 
the men discharging their pieces as they closed up, and 
emptying two saddles. The suddenness and impetu- 
osity of the dash surprised the enemy, for he broke in 
confusion and scampered down the road, our men 
cheering and pursuing. They soon came to wliere the 
road forked, and here the enemy divided, a few of his 
troopers taking one road, and the larger number the 
other. Our force also divided, the larger number fol- 
lowing the smaller of the enemy on one side, and the 
smaller the larger on the other. In this way they fol- 
lowed tlie enemy, at times discharging their pieces, 
until it became evident that he was close upon his 
infantry reserves. The recall was now sounded, the 
men fell back in good order, and returned to camp^ 
victorious, but with the loss of one man killed. The 
effect of this little fight was never lost on the men. It 
taught them the true value of courage, and also what 
advantages were to be gained by these sudden and 
impetuous charges on the enemy. After this they were 
always quick to charge whenever they met tlie enemy ; 
and no company of cavalry did better service, or 
performed its duty more satisfactorily during the mem- 
orable seven days' battles before Richmond. 

I have frequently noticed that the impression pro- 
duced on men Avhen first led into a fight, either tlirough 
defeat or victory, liad much to do in shaping their con- 
duct during a campaign. Defeated at first, it was a 
difficult matter to restore their courage; and when 



THE STORY OF A TROOPER. 127 

brought a second time to face tlie enemy, tliey did it 
'with feelings chained to tlie fear of a repulse. If vic- 
torious at first, it gave them a name that acted witli 
electric effect on their future conduct. 



Price Fifty Oeiits» 



T H B3 



STORY OF A TROOPER. 



WITH MUCH UF INTEREST CONCERNING THE CAMPAIGN ON 
THE PENINSULA, NOT BEFORE WRITTEN. 



BY F. OOLBUEN ADAMS, 

AuTHoa ov Chkonicles op the Babtilk ; Our WoaLD ; The Outcast ; Auvemtui 
OP Ma/or Rocer Sherman Potter, &e., &c. 



In Four Books.— Bonk First. 



Entered according to act of Congress, in tho yonr 18G4, by F. Oolbum Adams, in the 
Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Uniti;.! States for the District of Colmnbisu 



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1864. 



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